One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Impactful Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Actions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."

Yet during that period, 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 not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a nice way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty