The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level 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 post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
