The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
