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

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.

The Aftermath of 9/11

Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."

However 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 Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author'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 nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty