Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Political Career

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Policies

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."

But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder 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 floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling 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 sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to function, actually."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty