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

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."

However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty