The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling 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: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
