The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
