Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in US history. While many VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist'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 sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty