The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
