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

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it now."

But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

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

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty