The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as 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, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
