One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Government Service

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th 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. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty