The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
