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

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."

Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty