Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".

Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Policies

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."

Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty