Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Actions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, 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 predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried 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 objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty