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

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."

But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty