The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 corner that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
