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

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes 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. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it now."

Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty