The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
