One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Influential Political Career

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."

However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty