The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, 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 hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
