Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Political Career

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it now."

But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty