The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found 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 establish protocols and create procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
