The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
