The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention 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 attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top 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 totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
