Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Powerful Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head 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. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty