The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
