The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author'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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
