Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 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 credit."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."

Business Interests

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty