The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
