Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Government Service

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty