Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."

Business Interests

Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty