The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea 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 quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
