One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Powerful Political Career

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Actions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."

However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty