The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book 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 nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
