The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author'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 nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
