The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, 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 information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views 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 saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment 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 additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
