One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Time in Office

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Policies

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.

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