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

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Actions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."

Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty