The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
