The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
