One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.

Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."

Business Interests

Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty