The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
