Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Influential Government Service

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, 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 remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty