The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
