One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty