The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
