The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
