One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many VPs were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Policies

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty