The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked 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 declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
