Ex- VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Influential Political Career

The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".

Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

A Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."

But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."

Business Interests

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty