The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
