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

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Policies

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty