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

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, 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 quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty