Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it now."

Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book 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 background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty