The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management 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 observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch 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 credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
