The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
