The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards 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 took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
