The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
