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

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".

Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."

Business Interests

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty