One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in US history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Policies

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed 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 regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty