The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management 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 witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
