The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
