The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture 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 reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked 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 stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
