The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, 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 military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
