The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
