The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
