The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards 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 earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
