The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head 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 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially 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 leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
