The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
