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

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."

But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards 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 earn a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty