The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication 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 hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation 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 totaling more than $20m|twenty
