The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
