The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
