The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
