The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
