The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
