One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Political Career

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."

However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty