The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels 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 manipulating 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
