The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided 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 opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
