One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty