The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the individuals 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 credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, 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 corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
