The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
