The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
