Former VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, 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 corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty