The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
