The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty