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

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Policies

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view today."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty