The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
