The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing 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 poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
