The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
