The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
