The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
