The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
