The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
