One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Time in Office

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Policies

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty