The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary 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 Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
