One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Political Career

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."

Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist'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 shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty