The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
