One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Political Career

The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.

A Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.

Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Debated Decisions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."

However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty