Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Government Service

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.

Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."

However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge 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 additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty