The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
