Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Powerful Political Career

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.

Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Policies

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following 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 stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty