Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the 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 office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."

Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."

Business Interests

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty