The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
