The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
