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

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty