The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
