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

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".

Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Policies

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.

It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty