The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives 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 September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates 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, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
