The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
