The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
