The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
