The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators 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 monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
