The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
