The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
