The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
