The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
