The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
