The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
