The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 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 credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author'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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
