Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Impactful Time in Office

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."

However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following 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 diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty