One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Business Interests

Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty