The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
