The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
