The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
