The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
