The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy 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 establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned 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 pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
