The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
