Ex- VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Political Career

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."

But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty