Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."

However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, actually."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty