The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey 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 parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
