The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures 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 earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
