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

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that office in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".

Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary 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 mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty