The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
