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

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. While countless VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".

Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.

Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Policies

He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."

Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.

Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, in fact."

Business Interests

Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.

In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.

It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty