The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use 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 disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
