The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
