One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head 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 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty