The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
