The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. While numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
