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

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."

However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals 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 earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed labels 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 controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty