The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding 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 decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
