One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Decisions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."

But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join 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 presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty