Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Decisions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.

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