The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts 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 chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
