The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill 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 ground design with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
