Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Government Service

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."

Yet even then, there were opposing views 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 dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."

Business Interests

Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty