One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Government Service

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.

Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."

But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level 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 saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty