The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
