One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Impactful Political Career

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".

Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.

Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Controversial Actions

He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."

Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.

Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed 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 regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.

Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.

Investigation Approaches

But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."

Business Interests

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty