The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, 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 Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty