Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Policies

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."

But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty