The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
