The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, 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 background that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
