The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea 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 malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
