The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief 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 gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
