The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
