The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured 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 attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals 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 credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
