Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Time in Office

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, 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 face that all visitors had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, 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 corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."

Business Interests

Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty