Former VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Political Career

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Policies

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."

Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty