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

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.

A Aftermath of 9/11

At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Disputed Decisions

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."

However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.

It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty