Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Impactful Political Career

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. Although numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.

The Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure 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 sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty