The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
