Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency Hardcover - 2008

by Gellman, Barton

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barton Gellman's newsbreakinginvestigative journalism documents how Vice President Dick Cheneyredefined the role of the American vice presidency, assuming unprecedentedresponsibilities and making it a post of historic power.

Dick Cheney changed history, defining his timesand shaping a White House as no vice president has before yet concealing most of his work from public view. PulitzerPrize-winning Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman partsthe curtains of secrecy to show how Cheney operated, why, andwhat he wrought.

Angler, Gellman's embargoed and highly explosivebook, is a work of careful, concrete, and original reportingbacked by hundreds of interviews with close Cheney allies aswell as rivals, many speaking candidly on the record for the firsttime. On the signature issues of war and peace, Angler takesreaders behind the scenes as Cheney maneuvers for dominanceon what he calls the iron issues from Iraq, Iran, and NorthKorea to executive supremacy, interrogation of Al Qaeda suspects,and domestic espionage. Gellman explores the behind-the-scenes story of Cheney's tremendous influence on foreignpolicy, exposing how he misled the four ranking members ofCongress with faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons of massdestruction, how he derailed Bush from venturing into Israeli-Palestinian peace talks for nearly five years, and how his policyleft North Korea and Iran free to make major advances in theirnuclear programs.

Domestically, Gellman details Cheney's role as'super Chief of Staff ', enforcer of conservative orthodoxy;gatekeeper of Supreme Court nominees; referee of Cabinetturf; editor of tax and budget laws; and regulator in chief ofthe administration's environment policy. We watch as Cheney,the ultimate Washington insider, leverages his influence withinthe Bush administration in order to implement his policy goals.Gellman's discoveries will surprise even the most astute studentsof political science.

Above all, Angler is a study of the inner workingsof the Bush administration and the vice president's central roleas the administration's canniest power player. Gellman exposesthe mechanics of Cheney's largely successful post-September11 campaign to win unchecked power for the commander inchief, and reflects upon, and perhaps changes, the legacy thatCheney and the Bush administration as a whole will leaveas they exit office.