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

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."

However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty