The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks 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 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
