Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."

But even then, there were opposing views at a high level 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 role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, 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 nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty