Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."

But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty