One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Political Career

The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.

The Period Following the Attacks

Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Debated Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."

But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."

Additional Factors

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."

External Perception

Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."

Corporate Connections

Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty