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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."

But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."

Business Interests

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty