The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention 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 attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
