The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet 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 area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
