Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Time in Office

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to work, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty