One-time VP Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Powerful Political Career

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many VPs were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.

A Aftermath of 9/11

In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.

Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.

Disputed Actions

He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."

Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty