The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
