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

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Policies

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Business Interests

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty