The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
