One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Political Career

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".

Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty