The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
