The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, 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 corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
