Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Government Service

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."

Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty