The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
