One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Policies

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty