Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Time in Office

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.

Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."

But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author'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 operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a effective way to function, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty