The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed 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 Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
