Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Time in Office

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".

Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Actions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling 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 malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty