The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling 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: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
