Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Powerful Political Career

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it presently."

Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty