The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed 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 objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
