Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Time in Office

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."

Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a nice way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty