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

The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, actually."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty