The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating 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: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
