One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Government Service

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."

But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty