The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
