Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Impactful Government Service

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Policies

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."

But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty