The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
