The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
