Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book 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 shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty