The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
