One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Influential Time in Office

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."

But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty