The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
