The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
