One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Time in Office

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures 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 would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty