The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate 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 portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
