The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
