Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."

Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, 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 $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty