The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management 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, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though 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 biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
