The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors 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 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
