The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
