The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Whereas many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
