Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Government Service

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".

Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple 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 diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty