The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
