Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Government Service

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Whereas many VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture 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."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty