The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, 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 role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
