The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer 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 session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended 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 proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
