The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. While countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, 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 emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
