The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, 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 emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
