The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
