Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Time in Office

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."

But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty