The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
