The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father 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 initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist'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 evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
