The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the bastards 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 earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
