The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
