The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House'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 recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
