Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Government Service

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty