The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior 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 not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
