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

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty