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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."

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

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty