The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
