The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high 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 observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
