The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company 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 more than $20m|twenty
