The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce 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 conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
