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

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".

Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.

A 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 pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it presently."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a effective way to work, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty