The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch 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 merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
