Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Political Career

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr 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 these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing 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 evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty