The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author'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 evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
