Ex- Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Powerful Political Career

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".

Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."

But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics 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 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty