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

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.

Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Decisions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty