The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
