The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
