The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
