The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
