The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning 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 "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
