Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Time in Office

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.

Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."

But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to function, actually."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty