The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
