The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially 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 running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
