The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
