Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Political Career

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication 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 nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.

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