The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
