One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Political Career

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."

Business Interests

Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty