One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty