The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
