The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch 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 merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, 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 quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
