The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
