The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
