The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that position in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
