Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency
Encyclopedia
Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency is a book by Washington Post investigative reporter Barton Gellman
, published in 2008. Presenting information in a narrative fashion, Gellman asserts that United States
Vice President Dick Cheney
misled Republican leaders about the threat of Iraq before the invasion of Iraq by the United States. The book levels several allegations against Cheney and his administration. The book is based on hundreds of previously unpublished interviews with high-ranking government officials.
, a staff writer for The Washington Post
, participated in a lengthy series of Pulitzer Prize
-winning stories about Vice President Cheney published in November 2007. Angler is the conclusion of that investigation, and arranges the findings in a narrative fashion.
Throughout the course of the interviews, Gellman spoke on record to Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice
, National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, White House Chief of Staff
Joshua Bolten and his predecessor Andrew H. Card Jr., senior presidential advisers Dan Bartlett
and Karl Rove
, and numerous high-ranking Justice Department
alumni, including John Ashcroft
and James B. Comey
. Cheney and President Bush declined Gellman's requests to be interviewed.
Of the title of the book, Gellman said in a television interview:
From news sources about the book, with quotes of the book itself:
Armey said he reversed his position after Cheney told him that the threat from Iraq was actually "more imminent than we want to portray to the public at large."
stated that "while Gellman's book feels more like a collection of set-pieces than a cohesive whole, this look at this second most powerful office in the land couldn't be timelier." The Christian Science Monitor calls the book a "meticulously researched, highly readable new biography" that "tells the story of a man who has left a powerful imprint on American government." The Los Angeles Times
calls the book a "carefully reported and vigorously written" book that "creates immensely valuable clarity and perspective."
Barton Gellman
Barton David Gellman is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist, blogger and bestselling author.-Career:After 21 years on the staff of The Washington Post, Gellman resigned in February 2010 to concentrate on book and magazine writing...
, published in 2008. Presenting information in a narrative fashion, Gellman asserts that United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
misled Republican leaders about the threat of Iraq before the invasion of Iraq by the United States. The book levels several allegations against Cheney and his administration. The book is based on hundreds of previously unpublished interviews with high-ranking government officials.
Background
Barton GellmanBarton Gellman
Barton David Gellman is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist, blogger and bestselling author.-Career:After 21 years on the staff of The Washington Post, Gellman resigned in February 2010 to concentrate on book and magazine writing...
, a staff writer for The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, participated in a lengthy series of Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning stories about Vice President Cheney published in November 2007. Angler is the conclusion of that investigation, and arranges the findings in a narrative fashion.
Throughout the course of the interviews, Gellman spoke on record to Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
, National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, White House Chief of Staff
White House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
Joshua Bolten and his predecessor Andrew H. Card Jr., senior presidential advisers Dan Bartlett
Dan Bartlett
Daniel Joseph Bartlett was a Counselor to the President in the Bush administration. The position was previously held by Karen Hughes, who vacated the post in 2002. On June 1, 2007, he announced his resignation and that he would be leaving the White House on July 5, 2007...
and Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, and numerous high-ranking Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
alumni, including John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
and James B. Comey
James B. Comey
James B. Comey, Jr. was United States Deputy Attorney General, serving in President George W. Bush's administration. As Deputy Attorney General, Comey was the second-highest ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and ran the day-to-day operations of the Department, serving in...
. Cheney and President Bush declined Gellman's requests to be interviewed.
Of the title of the book, Gellman said in a television interview:
"Cheney’s Secret Service codename. They have a wry sense of humor about the way they give codenames, and a lot of times they have a double meaning. Obviously, Cheney is an avid fisherman. I thought it was a nice metaphor for the way that he works. He tends to approach the levers of power obliquely. He doesn’t like to—like you to see him coming, doesn’t like to have an overt public role. He finds his way to the place where decisions are made and often doesn’t leave many signs of his presence.
Contents
- Cheney designed a questionnaire for Vice Presidential candidates to fill in and sign, and insisted the candidates sign waivers allowing him complete access to their medical and psychiatric records, FBI files, financial files, and IRS returns. Included was a question regarding whether there was anything that could be used to blackmail the respondent. Cheney did not fill in his own questionnaire; according to Gellman, this is "contrary to what the campaign said at the time"
From news sources about the book, with quotes of the book itself:
- Cheney lobbied Richard Armey with information that had no basis in contemporary intelligence information. Armey's stand against giving George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
authority to wage war in late 2002 had attracted congressional Democrats to support his opposition; Armey's opinion had become critical to the congressional vote required for war. The vice president's assertions were delivered to Armey alone in a highly classified briefing in Room H-208 in the Capitol Building, reports Gellman. They "crossed so far beyond the known universe of fact that they were simply without foundation." Armey said Cheney misled him by saying that Iraqi President Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
had direct personal ties to al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
terrorists and was making rapid progress toward a suitcase nuclear weapon.Cheney said, according to Armey, that Iraq's "ability to miniaturize weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear," had been "substantially refined since the first Gulf War," and would soon result in "packages that could be moved even by ground personnel." Cheney linked that threat to Saddam's alleged personal ties to al Qaeda, Armey said, explaining that "we now know they have the ability to develop these weapons in a very portable fashion, and they have a delivery system in their relationship with organizations such as al Qaeda."
Armey said he reversed his position after Cheney told him that the threat from Iraq was actually "more imminent than we want to portray to the public at large."
- Confidential information provided by former Republican governor Frank KeatingFrank KeatingFrancis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
to Cheney to fill out Cheney's questionnaires was later leaked to NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. Said Keating to Gellman; "Dick Cheney coming into my life has been like a black cloud". - The heart surgeon who cleared Cheney for the Vice Presidency neither met Cheney nor reviewed his medical records.
- While George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was in a schoolroom reading The Pet Goat to children, Cheney ordered the Air Force to shoot down other potentially hijacked passenger planes after the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked; it was later claimed that Bush had previously given an order to do so, and Cheney merely followed it. Gellman's book offers new evidence that that was not the case. - Cheney instituted a warrantless surveillance program without notifying the FBI or the CIA.
"Hayden has this sort of famous, or famous in Washington, briefing device. He draws a Venn diagram with three overlapping ovals: one of them is what they would love to be able to do, one is what they’re technically capable of doing, and one is what’s legal. And what he says is, you know, “Where we work is right in the space where those three ovals intersect.” And Cheney tells him, “Suppose that third oval wasn’t there. Suppose you were not constrained by the law. And he is not saying, “Let’s break the law.” He’s saying, “Let’s suppose there were no legal restriction. Then what would you do?” And he does not go in the direction of asking for a change in the law. He presses the interpretation that, as commander-in-chief in wartime and because intelligence gathering is inherent in war, Bush doesn’t have to follow the explicit prohibitions in two felony statutes on warrantless surveillance, that Bush, as commander-in-chief, can simply override those and override them secretly.” -Barton Gellman
- Threats of mass resignation by White House staff in response to the "plans to unilaterally adopt a program of torture and domestic spying that the Justice Department, FBI, Office of Legal Counsel and the lawyers for all the intelligence agencies believed was illegal."-LA Times caused Bush to curtail Cheney's power within the administration.
Reception
Critical book reviews have been positive. Time MagazineTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
stated that "while Gellman's book feels more like a collection of set-pieces than a cohesive whole, this look at this second most powerful office in the land couldn't be timelier." The Christian Science Monitor calls the book a "meticulously researched, highly readable new biography" that "tells the story of a man who has left a powerful imprint on American government." The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
calls the book a "carefully reported and vigorously written" book that "creates immensely valuable clarity and perspective."