Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Government Service

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty