Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Government Service

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that office in US history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Policies

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."

Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals 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 credit."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling 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 shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty