Ex- VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Impactful Time in Office

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.

Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend 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 Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."

But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution 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 later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 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 credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty