The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "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 referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, 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 background that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
