The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of that position in US history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
