The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier 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 post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
