The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, 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 corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
