Former Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Government Service

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty