The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, 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 invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
