The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
