One-time VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join 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 running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty