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

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".

Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Controversial Actions

He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."

However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

Public Image

Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

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

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty