One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Political Career

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Policies

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty