The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation 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 trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
