The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
