The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "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 orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty