One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Government Service

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I believe it today."

But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships 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 chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty