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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, especially 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 CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty