The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing 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 top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent 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 opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment 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 additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
