The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in US history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy 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 surface artwork with a image of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols 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 deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
