The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
