The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
