The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty