One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.

Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head 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 involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."

Business Interests

Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty