The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
