The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief 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 participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in 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 Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
