The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
