The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure 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 energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
