The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion 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 participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
