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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."

However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.

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