The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
