Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Political Career

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Actions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty