The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
