One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Time in Office

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."

However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After 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 announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty