The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, 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 background that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
