The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
