The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author'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 evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
