The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor 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 intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 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 credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly 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 chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
