The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
