Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Actions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."

Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character 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 reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, 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 deals valued at multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty