Former VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Impactful Political Career

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."

But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty