The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling 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 malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
