Former VP Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on His Influential Political Career

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."

But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.

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