Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Impactful Political Career

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Actions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it now."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty