Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Time in Office

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Policies

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals 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 merit a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty