The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist'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 malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
