One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Time in Office

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. While numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Actions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of 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. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty