The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. While countless VPs were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
