The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
