Former VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Political Career

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush resented that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it today."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, 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 reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty