The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
