One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Actions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 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 recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty