The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
