Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Government Service

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

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

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty