The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the bastards 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 enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
