Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence 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, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty