The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
