Former VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Political Career

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty