The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill 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 surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author'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 corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
