One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Powerful Political Career

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty