The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
