The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. While countless VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
