The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, 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 reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
