The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
