One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Impactful Political Career

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it now."

But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence 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 malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty