The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend 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 merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
