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

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty