The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort 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.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
