The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
