The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, 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 nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
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 totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
