The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain 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 evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
