The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
