Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Influential Political Career

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."

However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed 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 regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background 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 most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty