The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
