Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Time in Office

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons 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 terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.

Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to work, actually."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty