The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
