The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
