Ex- VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Impactful Government Service

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Actions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects 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 right decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."

Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, 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 likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty