Ex- VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Impactful Time in Office

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During 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 took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."

Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty