The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
