The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
