One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Impactful Government Service

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I believe it now."

But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "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 orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty