The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend 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 credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
