The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended 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 course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
However 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 area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author'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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
