The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
