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Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency

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Whether you believe Dick Cheney is trying to protect our country by "fighting terrorism" or is simply unhinged by hubris (and perhaps ill health), you need to read this book. Don't be swayed by terms like "Torture Presidency" or "Lady MacCheney". Yes, the book has bias, but its reporting is too thorough for dismissal as a partisan hack job.

Anecdotal evidence suggests his influence is banking. Yet he bestrides this administration like a Claude Raines villain in an old Warners adventure movie, a guardian-chamberlain dominating Dubya, the cocksure, brittle dauphin on the throne. Fellow reviewer Robert D. Steele says Cheney should be placed in irons, and presents persuasive evidence crystallizing the themes of the book.

Vice documents how Dick Cheney and his long-time counsel David Addington have put into action an authoritarian "unitary executive" theory to give the president unwarranted powers, and have arrogated these powers to the vice president's office, accountable to no one.

It's all here: torture, signing statements, shadow governance in "the dark side, if you will," as Cheney puts it, eavesdropping on the White House staff, the lies leading to the Iraq War, the wiretapping, the secret energy task force, sweetheart Halliburton contracts, the failure - almost surely deliberate - to reconstitute Congress in prospective post-attack plans. The 25 questions for Dick Cheney at the end (page 225 or thereabouts) should be at the top of Congress's list if and when Cheney and Addington get their subpoenas.

At the the same time, the book raises as many questions as it answers, largely due to the authors' lack of access, a largely absent paper trail (a tip learned from Cheney's mentor Don Rumsfeld) and the secretive nature of this enigmatic American version of Yuri Andropov. (An aside: The handling of the Texas hunting accident and subsequent reassignment of all the Secret Service agents had touches of Kremlin black comedy).

The book raises, but cannot answer, Cheney's evident shift from an extreme, but pragmatic, right-wing Republican who said Saddam Hussein's downfall was not worth "very damn many" American lives, to the rigid, hell-bent-for-war authoritarian ideologue we see today. (Is it 9-11? Partly. The heart attacks? Perhaps. Cheney's onetime friends are baffled. But the authors can only raise the questions.)

So, if the final book has yet to be written, this one gives us a useful map. The surprise is that it has not received more notice; it is on par with - and in some ways superior to - the recent works of Suskind, Ricks, Isikoff, Woodward, Rich and Chandrasekaran, among others, who have tried to shed light on this administration's apparently endless dark corners.

There is more to Cheney than meets the eye. The first part of the book gives an overview of his political life before becoming Vice President, which is necessary for the reader to understand how he operates. Cheney is very ambitious, secretive, and ruthless. He will do whatever it takes to gain power, despite his unpopularity. He has contempt for our democratic way of life, and regularly circumvents the US Constitution, whenever it gets in his way. After reading this book you will more fully understand how we got into the Iraqi mess, and wonder how much freedom Americans will have after Bush and Cheney are out of office. I was convinced Bush and Cheney should be impeached before I read this book, and this book reinforces my opinion.

EDITED 5 September 2007 to add ten links to other related books.

This book is vastly more detailed, and covers more high crimes and misdemeanors, than either State of Denial, which misunderstands Bush as being in charge, or Crossing the Rubicon, which focuses primarily on Cheney's role in first permitting 9-11, and then working assiduously to cover up his malicious malfeasance. See also Ron Susskind's book, "One Percent Doctrine," which crucifies Cheney, Rumseld, and Rice.

I take this book so seriously that I urge everyone to get the "Do It Yourself Impeachment" kit. He should be required to immediately resign or be impeached. He should not be allowed to serve another month in office.

For the sake of brevity, here is a list of impeachable offenses documented by this book:

1) Secret meetings in violation of the law to include exclusion of government experts
2) Refusal to honor demand from Congress for a list of participants
3) Lies to the public about Iraq, while holding maps of oil fields and already having in mind a US-only domination of those oilfields (he first focused on Iraqi oil while serving Secretary of Defense Brown)
4) Over-ruling of the Environmental Protection Agency on very important matters including its concern over Halliburton's reliance on hydraulic fracturing that uses chemicals that contaminate aquifers--Cheney personally ensured that the EPA's wording was replaced with Halliburton's wording.
5) Consistent and pervasive usurpation of Congressional authorities and consistent and maliciously deliberate avoidance of appropriate disclosure.
6) Fostered attacks on Sy Hersh, and considered authorizing a break-in on his home.
7) From the 1970's, see also Ron Susskind's One-Percent Doctrine, subverted the authority of the Vice President, Nelson Rockefeller, and teams with Justice Scalia (then an assistant attorney general) to increase executive privileges and push back reforms.
8) As a Congressman personally blew off Russian offer in 1983 for arms cuts, and subverted the authority of the President and the Secretary of State then serving.
9) As an extremist Republican, supported Ollie North and the White House in violating the Congressional prohibitions on aid to the Contras, and obstructed justice thereafter.
10) Page 78 has a lovely discussion of how Cheney and North were "in the zone" in deceiving the public and Congress during the televised hearings.
11) Adopted as his own the lunatic report by Khalizad (who is a very lazy scholar, see my review of his rotten RAND book on revolution) and Libby, on how the US as a superpower should be able to do ANYTHING.
12) Attempted to undermine due process and keep tactical nuclear weapons in the Army inventory.
13) Subverted the authority of the Secretary of State (Colin Powell) by allowing his daughter to overrule Ambassadors and meet privately with various heads of state.
13) Lied repeatedly to the public about his continuing financial equities with Halliburton, and was so involved in giving Halliburton up to 16 billion in no bid contracts.
14) Shut both foreign competitors and more cost-effective indigenous contracting solutions, severely harming the national security of the United States by fostering an environment of unproductive looting by Halliburton, Bechtel, and others.
15) Ignored his dual mandates on terrorism and intelligence. The book suggests that Bush was not briefed on Al Qaeda for the first eight months he was in office (the Vice President's priorities were energy and missile defense).
16) Personally impeded negotiations with North Korea after they proved amenable to diplomatic engagement.
17) Personally rejected Iranian overtures for negotiation conveyed by the Swiss in 2003
18) Personally reinforced Rumsfeld on use of torture, by-passing the President's more measured restrictions.
19) Conspired with Speaker Hastert to subordinate the House of Representatives, using a special office of his own (first time in history) so that Representatives could be brought to him rather than his calling on them.
20) Manipulated the President into numerous "signing statements" inconsistent with the will of Congress that ignored legislation then in force.
21) "Bureaucratically emasculated" the President (page 177--if the President has a friend that reads this review, PLEASE get the book and the review to the President--he really may have no idea his balls have been cut off)
22) Contemptuous and manipulative of the CIA, refusing to accept their best professional judgments based not only all source intelligence, but on a extraordinary effort by Charlie Allen in running line crossers into Iraq to document beyond a shadow of a doubt that there were no weapons of mass destruction there.
23) Lied repeatedly, over and over, to the public, to Congress, to the President, to foreign leaders, even after the lies were exposed he continued to repeat them.

The book does not discuss the 9-11 situation and emerging findings that place the Vice President at the center of our deliberately inept response.

Two gems apart from the impeachable offenses:

1) The search for a Vice President was a complete fraud, he was picked from day one, and made a fool of every serious candidate, while also personally leaking to destroy Keating just to ensure the only real rival would not be considered at the last minute.

2) The discussion of Joe Lieberman's refusal to confront Cheney with all that was known to be wrong with him was explained at the time as "taking the high moral road." I am not so sure. I speculate that Lieberman is actually a neo-con and has been playing the Democrats for fools while minding the interests of his Wall Street masters.

On page 147 the authors discuss how Cheney accused Clinton and Gore of "extend[ing] our military commitments while depleting our military power." Lovely. And now?

The authors conclude that Dick Cheney is "nakedly amoral." I agree.

One final scary note: in the many doomsday drills that Cheney participated in across his career and inclusive of his Vice Presidency, they always failed to reconstitute Congress.

Dick Cheney has done more damage and is a greater threat to our Republic and others, than Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein combined.

The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition
State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III
The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
9/11 Mysteries Part 1: Demolitions
9/11: Press For Truth
9/11 - The Myth and the Reality
Aftermath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11

For those wondering why Congress failed to do its Article 1 job (hence all Members are impeachable for dereliction of duty as well):
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Institutions of American Democracy)
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders

This book is a must-read for anyone that has even once wondered why Congress refuses to question an executive branch that is the most secretive and power-hungry in American history. I used to have unadulterated hatred and zero respect for George W. Bush, and while the latter remains true, this book made me realize that he is little more than a figurehead behind Cheney's imperialistic and hegemonic foriegn policy. Cheney has thirsted for presidential power since he was Secretary of Defense in the Ford administration and now he finally has it. Every intelligent and informed citizen should read this book.

Dubose provides a great summary of Cheney's influence and how it's accomplished. A lapdog Congress helps - during the 8 years Clinton was in office, the lead oversight committee in the House issued 1,052 subpoenas, but only 5 thru the first 6 years of Bush-Cheney. Another means was withholding information - eg. members and minutes of Cheney's energy task force, though eventually it was at least learned that materials included maps of Iraqi oilfields, with a list of corporate "suitors" for each, long before any pretext to invade and while still embargoed. (Previously, a group of "Vulcans," including Cheney, proposed in '98 taking military action on Iraq to turn it into a model democracy to transform the Middle East.)

Early Cheney: Cheney learned from Rumsfeld during the Ford administration to never write down any opinion given to the President - instead, give it orally, thus leaving no fingerprints. While a Wyoming Representative, Cheney went to Russia and opposed a lead Russian general's proposal to negotiate arms reductions - Cheney wanted to dictate terms instead. He was also the leader in tamping down negative reaction to Iran-Contra - Dubose also points out that not only were illegal U.S. funds utilized, but also illegal monies from Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Halliburton Years: In the five years prior to Cheney, Halliburton received $100 million in government-backed loans; during Cheney's 5 years it received $1.5 billion. Cheney also purchased Dresser Industries (at the top of the oil market, for a 16% market premium), along with an unrecognized $4 billion in asbestos liability that should have been detected by Halliburton. Halliburton went on to declare bankruptcy, yet, paid Cheney $1.5 million for the "successful merger." Halliburton also engaged in financial chicanery with Arthur Andersen, and later lost $762 million due to a bad bid on work in Brazil.

V.P. Actions: Michael Mobbs, a high-level Pentagon political appointee, testified to Congress that a number of people in cheney's office was involved in coordinating award of huge contracts to Halliburton. Dubose also reports evidence of bid-rigging and arm-twisting, as well as how foreign companies were shut out by limiting awards to members of the "coalition of the willing." Dubose believes Cheney played a lead role convincing Bush to attack Iraq, his credibility enhanced by having earlier taken the other side with '41 and having since concluded it was a mistake.

Cheney has the largest staff in the history of the V.P. office. His national security staffers read all e-mail to/from/between the president's NSC staff (but not vice-versa). Dubose claims that Cheney's loyalists are all over top areas of the government, even working as an assistant to Bush. The fact that they have been working together for 30 years and previously perfected cover-up and influence techniques makes their impact even stronger.

Colonel Wilkerson, a key Powell assistant, provides considerable information for Dubose. We learn from him that Cheney's daughter was at State in charge of Near East affairs, and used her influence to go around and over ambassadors. Cheney also changed the terms of negotiation with North Korea ("dictate," not negotiate) after the principals involved had reached a decision. In 2003, Iran offered concessions on its nuclear program and Israel policy, along with exchanging all Qaeda prisoners for Hussein's Iranian prisoners - again Cheney nixed the deal, insisting on dictating his terms.

Cheney sits in on House and Senate leadership meetings, and his assistant has authored many/most of Bush's "signing statements." (We also learn that Justice Alito earlier had written "how to do it" while in the Reagan administration.)

CIA Influence: Cheney, with his assistants, forced the CIA during Ford's administration to overstate the Russian threat. While V.P., he replaced two CIA briefers for failure to provide intelligence he wanted to justify attacking Iraq; in addition, Cheney made 8-15 visits to CIA headquarters to press for "evidence."

Bottom Line: Dubose makes it clear how dangerous Cheney is to America's security, and it certainly looks like that joke about Bush playing second fiddle to Cheney is true.

"Vice", a perfect name for this book, confirms what so many of us have long thought about Dick Cheney...he's cold, secretive, ruthless, heartless and ultimately paranoid. Making the case against the Vice President with an astonishing narrative, authors Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein peel away the layers behind the throne's real power. If the emperor has no clothes, it's the work of his tailor.

As the authors point out, Cheney doesn't seek power so much as power seems to follow him. With incredible luck and skill, Cheney rose from being President Ford's Chief of Staff (the youngest in U.S. history) to a ten-year stint as Wyoming's only Congressman, to George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Defense to his current role in the White House. While not a meteoric rise, it followed the building blocks that Cheney so desired. He could not really have been disappointed that his brief thoughts of a run for the White House didn't pan out.....he's gotten his wish to be in charge.

To be fair, Dubose and Bernstein give Cheney some credit...he was well thought of as SecDef (contrast that one to Donald Rumsfeld's malfeasance!) and his crisis management on 9/11 was intact. But one angle that the authors argue is this...that Cheney's series of heart attacks may very well have made him a changed man...and not one for the better. Certainly his hatred of the CIA gets full coverage in "Vice" and we also receive a comprehensive look at Cheney's relationship with Halliburton. There's even a chapter on the dark one's dark partner, Lynne, titled "Lady MacCheney"...if you thought lowly of the Veep before, this chapter will seal the deal.

The scariest thing to be reminded about after reading "Vice" is that Cheney is still in power, although reading this book just after Scooter Libby's conviction adds an extra bit of interest... will the Vice President's power now begin to wane as he becomes the most reviled person to hold that office in history. Time will tell but in the meantime, read "Vice" and learn more about the enemy within. It puts you right in the thick of the swirling current surrounding Dick Cheney and is wonderfully written. I highly recommend it.

VICE is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the man many have long suspected to be the puppet master behind the Bush II presidency.

In fact, we learn from authors DuBose and Bernstein that Cheney is actually referred to by secret service detail as "Edgar," a humorous reference to the ventriloquist behind the old Charley McCarthy act. But there is nothing humorous at all about this masterful "background" man who has his own ideas about how to correct what he believes to be the shrinking powers of the executive branch of the American republic. In fact, there is ample evidence to suggest Cheney truly believes in the concept of a powerful "unitary executive" who interprets Congressional law only as a "guide" when making policy decisions. This is, after all, a man who cut his teeth as a young bright star in both the Nixon and Ford White House and witnessed first-hand the demise of President Nixon through his Watergate wrongdoings.

The authors suggest that if one could peer into Cheney's heart of hearts (the soulful on -- not the one regulated by a pacemaker), one could see that Cheney truly believes America would be better off without Congress. In one of the more chilling chapters of the book, we learn that Cold Warrior Cheney has actually been rehearsing a nuclear Holocaust for years, carefully planning a replacement government that doesn't include Congress in the event of world-scale catastrophe. DuBose and Bernstein suggest that when the Soviet threat evaporated in 1989-90, 9/11 replaced the Russian bogeyman in Cheney's mind, and Cheney and Rumsfeld updated their plans accordingly -- Boy President Bush just happened to be a convenient means to accelerate and execute their plans when disaster struck. Carefully laid plans for regime change in the Middle East that Cheney and Rumsfeld had drawn up pre-9/11 fell into place after the terrorist attacks on the U.S., and Afghanistan and Iraq were to be the first in a quick succession of toppling "Axis of Evil" regimes to follow.

So much for best-laid plans.

I was at once fascinated and repelled by the dissection of the personality and mechanics of Dick Cheney, but I must admit I also developed a grudging respect for him the more I read (a view, I suspect, the authors also share). Without a doubt, VICE sheds the most light to date on this highly secretive and powerful man. My only criticism is that, in some sense, it is an unfinished work. The 25 questions for Cheney at the end of the book are excellent, and what any reader would expect from journalists of this caliber; however, one is left craving the answers to the questions (paving the way for a nice sequel, I suppose).

Finally, it should be noted that the book was published just before the Democratic takeover of Congress in Nov. 2006, and there is much speculation of Cheney's potentially illegal activities only coming to light in a Blue Congress world. My advice: buy the book, get up to speed, and write your own answers to the 25 questions posed at the end of the book. The Scooter Libby trial begins in Jan. 07.

Former president Richard Nixon was often referred to as Tricksy Dick by his critics. Such a name is probably more appropriate for our current vice president, Dick Cheney. This book explores the personal and political history of Dick Cheney, beginning with his schoolboy days in Wyoming, and ending with his supposed involvement in the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson. The facts and interpretations put together in this book portray a stubborn, cunning man, the ultimate bureaucratic warrior who is always ten steps ahead of everyone else. Probably the most interesting part of the book is the number of individuals who reflect negatively on Cheney's personality, such as his vindictiveness, his dishonesty, his bullishness, his inability to compromise, and his fear-based hysteria. The overall portrait is of one scary man and probably not the best choice to pick for an elected official. Excellent book.

The history of the Cheney White House starts --- Now. This book already needs to be updated by the election but the essential information of what went wrong needs to be in our hands. The 25 questions at the end are appropriate.

One of the biggest issues is how completely the military has been wrecked by one who has been considered a very effective SecDef. The authors have done a great job in laying out the case against Cheney.

I don't suppose the Vice President will sign my copy of the book. *sigh*

This is the most informative book I have read on the Bush presidency and quite indispensable. It deals with politics and ambition, and Cheney is the smartest and most ruthless individual in the Bush administration. The details and accounts are impeccable and highly credible. A first-class read.