The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
