The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 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 recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
