The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied 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 Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 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 Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
