One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Time in Office

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty