The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Although many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
