The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
