The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed 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 declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
