Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Political Career

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."

Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty