The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
