One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Impactful Government Service

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction 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. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it today."

But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, 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 corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty