Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Time in Office

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."

Business Interests

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty