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

The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".

Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.

Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."

But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty