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

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."

Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty