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

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty