The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, 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 died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
