The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
