One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Government Service

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Actions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty