Dick Cheney once jokingly referred to himself as Darth Vader - such was his dark reputation with the mainstream US media. With the departure of Karl Rove, George W. Bush's electoral mastermind, the US vice-president is seen as "the last man standing" in the administration.
Yet far from being the increasingly isolated figure that he is often portrayed, Cheney wields influence that has arguably never been greater. Among the close circle of trusted advisers that Bush has relied on since coming to the White House, only Cheney remains.
The others - the so-called "Texas mafia" that included Harriet Miers, the former counsel, Dan Barlett, director of communications, Karen Hughes, a senior adviser, Alberto Gonzales, the outgoing attorney general and Rove - have all left.
It was this informal coterie that would retreat with Bush to his private quarters after formal White House meetings and take the hard decisions. "These were the people Bush trusted and where he could say anything," said a former Cheney aide. "Cheney will now be unchallenged."
Of the inner circle, Rove was probably the only one with equal weight to the vice-president - although they did not always see eye to eye. Rove's principal agenda has been to expand the Republican party's electoral base to create a "permanent majority". Cheney's has been to expand the executive powers that he believes were illegitimately taken from the White House after Watergate in the 1970s.
Often they were chasing two different rabbits. It is Cheney who looks far likelier to accomplish his agenda. "There is no one left who can now out-argue the vice-president," says Juleanna Glover, another former Cheney aide.
The fact that the White House has no candidate running in 2008 further increases
Cheney's room for manoeuvre, particularly given Rove's departure. "Rove was first and foremost a political animal," says Stephen Hayes, Cheney's biographer. "He looked at how policies could benefit the Republicans. Cheney's attitude is: 'Politics be damned. This is the right thing to do. Now someone else go sell it to the American public and our allies'."
Nor, as some have suggested, does Gonzales' departure necessarily weaken the vice-president's hand.
"In terms of the formulation of arguments, Gonzales was never much of a player," said John Bolton, a former ally of Cheney in the Bush administration and a former UN ambassador, now at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "David Addington [a senior Cheney aide] was the main theoretician of executive privilege and he is still there."
Significant test
The first significant test of Cheney's influence in the post-Rove era will come within the next few weeks, when Bush picks a nominee to replace Gonzales as attorney-general.
People close to the White House say Cheney wants a conservative nominee who will defend the expansion of presidential power he has championed over the past six years.
But Bush is under pressure from others in the administration to choose an independent figure who would stand up to the White House. Bruce Fein, a former senior law officer in the Reagan administration, says the identity of Gonzales' replacement will determine "whether the Cheney executive privilege agenda will continue to prevail".
Cheney has focused his vice-presidency on reversing the constraints placed on executive power following Watergate and the Vietnam war.
It was this philosophy that led to the launch of a controversial domestic eavesdropping programme after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and the blurring of US policy towards torture.
Perhaps the clearest evidence of Cheney's overriding influence is the deadlock over the future of Guantanamo. The vice-president is the only high-profile administration official still arguing for the detention centre to be kept open. Yet his views have so far trumped the growing consensus elsewhere in the administration about the need to work towards closing the facility.
"Cheney's most important goal is to establish beyond this presidency the White House's pre-eminent and in some respects exclusive role to make war, determine what war is and who is a combatant," says Fein. "That will be his legacy."
While Cheney has lost some ground to foreign policy moderates, those who know him well insist he will continue to push for tougher action to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. "He should not be underestimated on this point," says a former senior administration official. "Cheney has argued for military action against Iran before and he will likely do so again. If the current round of UN resolutions fail to get Iran to change course, then Cheney's argument will gather strength through 2008."
Bolton says on foreign policy the Bush administration will retain its strongest freedom of action.
"People tend to forget that we do not have a parliamentary system - the powers of the executive do not depend on who controls the legislature or on the state of public opinion," he says.
"We have a separation of powers. This is especially true of foreign policy."
Yet far from being the increasingly isolated figure that he is often portrayed, Cheney wields influence that has arguably never been greater. Among the close circle of trusted advisers that Bush has relied on since coming to the White House, only Cheney remains.
The others - the so-called "Texas mafia" that included Harriet Miers, the former counsel, Dan Barlett, director of communications, Karen Hughes, a senior adviser, Alberto Gonzales, the outgoing attorney general and Rove - have all left.
It was this informal coterie that would retreat with Bush to his private quarters after formal White House meetings and take the hard decisions. "These were the people Bush trusted and where he could say anything," said a former Cheney aide. "Cheney will now be unchallenged."
Of the inner circle, Rove was probably the only one with equal weight to the vice-president - although they did not always see eye to eye. Rove's principal agenda has been to expand the Republican party's electoral base to create a "permanent majority". Cheney's has been to expand the executive powers that he believes were illegitimately taken from the White House after Watergate in the 1970s.
Often they were chasing two different rabbits. It is Cheney who looks far likelier to accomplish his agenda. "There is no one left who can now out-argue the vice-president," says Juleanna Glover, another former Cheney aide.
The fact that the White House has no candidate running in 2008 further increases
Cheney's room for manoeuvre, particularly given Rove's departure. "Rove was first and foremost a political animal," says Stephen Hayes, Cheney's biographer. "He looked at how policies could benefit the Republicans. Cheney's attitude is: 'Politics be damned. This is the right thing to do. Now someone else go sell it to the American public and our allies'."
Nor, as some have suggested, does Gonzales' departure necessarily weaken the vice-president's hand.
"In terms of the formulation of arguments, Gonzales was never much of a player," said John Bolton, a former ally of Cheney in the Bush administration and a former UN ambassador, now at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "David Addington [a senior Cheney aide] was the main theoretician of executive privilege and he is still there."
Significant test
The first significant test of Cheney's influence in the post-Rove era will come within the next few weeks, when Bush picks a nominee to replace Gonzales as attorney-general.
People close to the White House say Cheney wants a conservative nominee who will defend the expansion of presidential power he has championed over the past six years.
But Bush is under pressure from others in the administration to choose an independent figure who would stand up to the White House. Bruce Fein, a former senior law officer in the Reagan administration, says the identity of Gonzales' replacement will determine "whether the Cheney executive privilege agenda will continue to prevail".
Cheney has focused his vice-presidency on reversing the constraints placed on executive power following Watergate and the Vietnam war.
It was this philosophy that led to the launch of a controversial domestic eavesdropping programme after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and the blurring of US policy towards torture.
Perhaps the clearest evidence of Cheney's overriding influence is the deadlock over the future of Guantanamo. The vice-president is the only high-profile administration official still arguing for the detention centre to be kept open. Yet his views have so far trumped the growing consensus elsewhere in the administration about the need to work towards closing the facility.
"Cheney's most important goal is to establish beyond this presidency the White House's pre-eminent and in some respects exclusive role to make war, determine what war is and who is a combatant," says Fein. "That will be his legacy."
While Cheney has lost some ground to foreign policy moderates, those who know him well insist he will continue to push for tougher action to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. "He should not be underestimated on this point," says a former senior administration official. "Cheney has argued for military action against Iran before and he will likely do so again. If the current round of UN resolutions fail to get Iran to change course, then Cheney's argument will gather strength through 2008."
Bolton says on foreign policy the Bush administration will retain its strongest freedom of action.
"People tend to forget that we do not have a parliamentary system - the powers of the executive do not depend on who controls the legislature or on the state of public opinion," he says.
"We have a separation of powers. This is especially true of foreign policy."
3 comments:
Cheney will wish he never heard of Halliburton when his end comes. He will be seen as a coward who stole, killed and lied for greed only to end up broke and broken.
Let's see him get the White House more powerful by 2008. Then when Hillary gets it back, she can kick some real ass.
P.S. I've never seen a bunch of spoiled men carry more grudges for decades. Darth is pissed because of Watergate? Iraq was all about revenge and the next war in Iran will also be about revenge.
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