The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
