The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, 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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
