The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships 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 chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
