The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
