The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan 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 responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards 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."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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 sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
