The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
