The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
