The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior 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 retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, 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 lair? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
