The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to 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 considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
