The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures 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 merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
