The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor 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 intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
