The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance 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 also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
