The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
