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

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty