The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While many VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards 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 credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
