The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Although many VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
