Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Impactful Government Service

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."

However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty