Former VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Time in Office

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty