The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize 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 Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended 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 right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
