The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs 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 leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling 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 defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
