The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 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."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably 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 became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
