The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
