One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Government Service

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty