Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

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

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty