Fortified with ideological steel and this sense of mission, Cheney, hitherto widely considered laconic and temperate, emerged as perhaps the administration’s staunchest advocate for the War on Terrorism. He urged maximalist policies, backing the invasion of Iraq despite ambiguous evidence about Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program and favoring heightened surveillance and presidential secrecy at home. Temperamentally, too, Cheney displayed a seemingly newfound belligerence, bullying colleagues, scorning media critics — in one interview he called waterboarding detainees for national security purposes “a no-brainer” — and once, on the Senate floor, telling Democrat Pat Leahy of Vermont to go fuck himself.
Cheney’s adamancy as vice president surprised some friends. “Does he acknowledge that he is not as pleasant as he used to be?” wondered the retired New York Times reporter James Naughton, who remembered Cheney as a genial prankster when at 34 he served under President Gerald Ford as the youngest White House chief of staff in history.
Continue Reading on Politico
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.