The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 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."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
