Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Time in Office

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, 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 armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Policies

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."

However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty