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

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."

Business Interests

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty