The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
