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

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend 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 Policies

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 leave his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty