The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution 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 saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
