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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."

Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty