Former VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Political Career

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed 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. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Actions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."

Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty