The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
