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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that office in US history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [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 ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty