The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices 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 not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
