The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
