The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, 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 involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
