One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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 taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices 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 subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty