One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".

Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Actions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty