The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, 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 ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
