The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried 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 most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, 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 leader 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 awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
