Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Impactful Time in Office

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."

However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After 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 stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, 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 corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a nice way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty