The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
