The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
