The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
