The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior 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 role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given 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 journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
