The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence 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: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
