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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty