The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
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 predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
