The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, 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 shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
