The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 lair? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
