The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer 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 elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
