The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. While countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
