One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Powerful Time in Office

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Decisions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."

However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, 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: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty