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

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier 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 observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a effective way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty