Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Political Career

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Policies

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty