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

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.

Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a effective way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty