The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
