The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired 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 stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
