Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that position in US history. While countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public 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 on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Policies

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."

Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty