Vice: Dick Cheney and the hijacking of the American presidency (1st ed.)

Dick Cheney is the most powerful yet most unpopular vice president in U.S. history. He has thrived alongside a president who from day one had little interest in policy and limited experience in the ways of Washington.

Yet Cheneys quiet, steady rise to prominence over a span of three decades occurred largely behind the scenes.

Now veteran reporters Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein reveal the disturbing truth about the man who has successfully co-opted executive control over the U.S. government, serving as the de facto shadow president of the most dominant White House in a generation.Cheney has always been an astute politician.

He survived the collapse of the Nixon presidency, finding a position of power in the administration of Gerald Ford.

He was then elected to the House of Representatives, and later he earned a spot in the cabinet of the first Bush presidency.

But when he became George W. Bushs running mate, Cheney reached a new level of influence.

From the engineering of his own selection as vice president to his support of policies allowing torture as a permissible weapon in the war on terror, Cheney has steered America consistently rightward.

In Vice, Dubose and Bernstein uncover startling revelations, including the extraordinary intimidation of CIA officials by a vice president bent on obtaining intelligence to support a foregone conclusion: the invasion of Iraq details on Cheneys secret energy task force, including his meeting with Enron chief Ken Lay months before Lay was indictedand how Cheney went to court to erode the powers of Congress how Cheney helped to kill 2003 diplomatic overtures from Iran to discuss concessions on its nuclear program and policy toward Israel Cheneys role in engineering multibillion-dollar military contracts in Iraq to benefit Halliburton, the company he once ran eyewitness reports from prominent Republican and conservative sources who go on record for the first time to tell the truth about how Dick Cheney has hijacked the American presidencyIn the words of one of Cheneys colleagues from the House: Dick keeps his own counsel.

Hes completely in control. Hes completely sure of himself in everything he does.

Its what got him to where he is today: the most powerful vice president to ever hold office.

Its also whats bringing about his downfall. In Vice, we get an unprecedented expos of how Cheney operates and what his vice presidency will mean to Americanow and in the future.From the Hardcover edition.