The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head 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 engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in 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 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
