The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication 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 shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
