The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
