The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture 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 deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book 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 remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
