Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Time in Office

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed 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 stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."

Business Interests

Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty