The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
