The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
