Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Powerful Political Career

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."

However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty