The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group 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 response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to 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 stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
