The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
