One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Impactful Political Career

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted 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 partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

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 military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Decisions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."

Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion 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 cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to work, in fact."

Corporate Connections

Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty