The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary 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. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time 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 representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, 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 background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
