The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
