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

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."

But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier 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 role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.

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