The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
