The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention 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 participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees 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 decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
