The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
