Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Influential Political Career

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".

Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Policies

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty