The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
