The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty