One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Government Service

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time 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 secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Policies

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty