Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Impactful Political Career

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards 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."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.

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