The late 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. While numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
