The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, 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 emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
