The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
