The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
