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

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."

But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."

Business Interests

Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty