The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, 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 shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
