The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted 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 proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
