Former Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Political Career

The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Debated Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."

Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Image

Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty