The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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 evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
