Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Government Service

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it now."

Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty