Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Government Service

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Actions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."

However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty