The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
