The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
