1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:13,625 --> 00:00:15,583 INTERVIEWER: Are we ready to start? 4 00:00:15,583 --> 00:00:17,417 CREW MEMBER: We are, the sound is ready. 5 00:00:17,417 --> 00:00:19,291 CHENEY: Let me get rid of this. 6 00:00:19,291 --> 00:00:20,875 INTERVIEWER: Yeah, take your time. 7 00:00:26,207 --> 00:00:28,958 And I guess I'm the only one on camera, 8 00:00:28,958 --> 00:00:30,542 or are they gonna shoot you some? 9 00:00:30,542 --> 00:00:32,834 INTERVIEWER: Oh, no, just you. Just me, okay. 10 00:00:32,834 --> 00:00:34,750 [♪] 11 00:00:34,750 --> 00:00:36,542 INTERVIEWER: What's your favorite virtue? 12 00:00:36,542 --> 00:00:39,250 Integrity. 13 00:00:39,250 --> 00:00:41,834 INTERVIEWER: What do you appreciate most in your friends? 14 00:00:41,834 --> 00:00:44,040 Honesty. 15 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,417 INTERVIEWER: Your idea of happiness? 16 00:00:46,417 --> 00:00:50,959 A day on the south fork of the Snake with a fly rod. 17 00:00:50,959 --> 00:00:53,834 INTERVIEWER: Your idea of misery? 18 00:00:53,834 --> 00:00:57,457 Loss of a family member. 19 00:00:57,457 --> 00:00:59,959 INTERVIEWER: What's your favorite food? 20 00:00:59,959 --> 00:01:03,792 Spaghetti. 21 00:01:03,792 --> 00:01:07,457 INTERVIEWER: What do you consider your main fault? 22 00:01:07,457 --> 00:01:09,834 My main fault... 23 00:01:09,834 --> 00:01:15,667 Umm... Hm. Well, I don't spend a lot of time 24 00:01:15,667 --> 00:01:18,709 thinking about my faults, I guess would be the answer. 25 00:01:18,709 --> 00:01:21,332 Uh... 26 00:01:44,457 --> 00:01:46,750 INTERVIEWER: When was the first time you went fishing 27 00:01:46,750 --> 00:01:47,875 after your heart transplant? 28 00:01:47,875 --> 00:01:49,375 CHENEY: This is it. 29 00:01:49,375 --> 00:01:53,417 Haven't been on the river since last summer. 30 00:01:53,417 --> 00:01:56,250 [♪] 31 00:02:03,542 --> 00:02:07,457 CHENEY: It's an important part of my life, fly-fishing. 32 00:02:07,457 --> 00:02:11,207 It requires intense concentration to do it well. 33 00:02:11,207 --> 00:02:14,375 It's one of the few things I was able to do over the years 34 00:02:14,375 --> 00:02:16,250 that let me put everything else out of my mind. 35 00:02:16,250 --> 00:02:18,750 It didn't matter what else was happening. 36 00:02:18,750 --> 00:02:21,625 If I was out on the stream I was out on the stream, 37 00:02:21,625 --> 00:02:22,917 that's what I was focused on. 38 00:02:28,667 --> 00:02:31,792 REPORTER 1: There is panic on the street, thousands of people running-- 39 00:02:31,792 --> 00:02:34,542 WOMAN: We saw the plane on the other side of the building, 40 00:02:34,542 --> 00:02:36,834 and there was smoke and people are jumping out the windows-- 41 00:02:36,834 --> 00:02:39,165 REPORTER 2: The second building has just collapsed-- 42 00:02:39,165 --> 00:02:41,582 REPORTER 3: Huge explosion now raining debris on us. 43 00:02:41,582 --> 00:02:43,165 We better get out of the way! 44 00:02:43,165 --> 00:02:46,290 FIREMAN: Let's go, let's go, let's go! 45 00:02:46,290 --> 00:02:48,207 [SIRENS BLARING] 46 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,542 CHENEY: People say, well, you know, how did you feel? 47 00:03:00,542 --> 00:03:01,959 That's not the way I think about it, 48 00:03:01,959 --> 00:03:03,792 I had a job to do. 49 00:03:03,792 --> 00:03:05,457 A secret service agent came in. 50 00:03:05,457 --> 00:03:08,792 He said, "Sir, we have to leave immediately" 51 00:03:08,792 --> 00:03:12,959 and propelled me out of my office and down the hall. 52 00:03:12,959 --> 00:03:15,040 I got on the telephone with the president, 53 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:16,709 who was in Florida, 54 00:03:16,709 --> 00:03:19,667 and told him not to be in one location 55 00:03:19,667 --> 00:03:22,542 where we could both be taken out. 56 00:03:22,542 --> 00:03:26,125 We had a list of six aircraft that had been hijacked. 57 00:03:26,125 --> 00:03:27,709 We could account for three of them, 58 00:03:27,709 --> 00:03:29,834 two in New York and one in the Pentagon. 59 00:03:29,834 --> 00:03:31,582 But we had three more out there, 60 00:03:31,582 --> 00:03:34,375 and we didn't know where they were. 61 00:03:34,375 --> 00:03:38,207 There had been a report of a plane outside Washington 62 00:03:38,207 --> 00:03:40,834 80 or 90 miles away, headed for Washington 63 00:03:40,834 --> 00:03:43,040 at a high rate of speed. 64 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,375 You know you could wring your hands 65 00:03:45,375 --> 00:03:47,417 and be worried and get emotional about it, 66 00:03:47,417 --> 00:03:48,625 but then you can't function. 67 00:03:48,625 --> 00:03:52,375 Under those circumstances, you gotta act, you know, 68 00:03:52,375 --> 00:03:55,875 you've got to deal with the situation as it arises, 69 00:03:55,875 --> 00:03:58,959 you've got to anticipate difficulties. 70 00:03:58,959 --> 00:04:01,875 That's the nature of conflict. 71 00:04:01,875 --> 00:04:03,834 A plane 80 miles out, 72 00:04:03,834 --> 00:04:06,207 traveling at a high rate of speed to Washington 73 00:04:06,207 --> 00:04:08,750 is a matter of minutes, before it, uh, 74 00:04:08,750 --> 00:04:10,082 arrives over the city. 75 00:04:13,542 --> 00:04:16,917 I gave the instructions that we'd authorize our pilots 76 00:04:16,917 --> 00:04:19,959 to take it out. 77 00:04:27,875 --> 00:04:29,625 JO BECKER: Dick Cheney unquestionably 78 00:04:29,625 --> 00:04:32,417 is the most powerful vice president in history. 79 00:04:32,417 --> 00:04:35,125 He changed the course of history 80 00:04:35,125 --> 00:04:39,332 in a way that no vice president has. 81 00:04:39,332 --> 00:04:42,750 VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: He didn't see his role as galvanizing public opinion. 82 00:04:42,750 --> 00:04:45,667 He wasn't a vice president that went out with a new initiative 83 00:04:45,667 --> 00:04:49,290 and tried to build public support. 84 00:04:49,290 --> 00:04:52,125 BOB WOODWARD: He did not want to be flexible. 85 00:04:52,125 --> 00:04:56,375 He just felt you had to get in the face of the terrorists 86 00:04:56,375 --> 00:05:02,083 or the potential threats and use extreme measures. 87 00:05:02,083 --> 00:05:04,959 STEPHEN HAYES: It wasn't just about protecting American power, 88 00:05:04,959 --> 00:05:07,666 it was about projecting American power. 89 00:05:07,666 --> 00:05:12,000 RON SUSKIND: Almost any man can stand up under adversity, 90 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,916 but if you want to really know a man's character, 91 00:05:15,916 --> 00:05:17,917 give him power. 92 00:05:20,417 --> 00:05:22,250 CHENEY: The ones who spend all their time 93 00:05:22,250 --> 00:05:24,959 trying to, uh, be loved by everybody 94 00:05:24,959 --> 00:05:27,332 probably aren't doing much. 95 00:05:27,332 --> 00:05:29,875 If you're not prepared to, uh, to have critics, 96 00:05:29,875 --> 00:05:32,250 and to be subject to criticism, 97 00:05:32,250 --> 00:05:34,917 then, uh, you know, wrong line of work. 98 00:05:34,917 --> 00:05:43,040 If you wanna be loved, uh, you know, go be a movie star. 99 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,125 NARRATOR: [THE Richard Bruce Cheney(LIFE grew up in Casper, Wyoming. 100 00:05:47,125 --> 00:05:48,959 The dramatic landscape of his home 101 00:05:48,959 --> 00:05:51,082 made a lasting impression on him. 102 00:05:51,082 --> 00:05:53,207 CHENEY: There's something just very special about it, 103 00:05:53,207 --> 00:05:56,332 in the sense of...of space. 104 00:05:56,332 --> 00:06:00,083 A sense of freedom, and sense of possibilities. 105 00:06:00,083 --> 00:06:04,208 We loved to fish, Dad got us actively involved in fishing. 106 00:06:04,208 --> 00:06:07,125 Dad was very much aware his whole life 107 00:06:07,125 --> 00:06:10,916 of the possibility that, you know, economic disaster 108 00:06:10,916 --> 00:06:14,416 could be around the next corner. 109 00:06:14,416 --> 00:06:17,667 They were diligent, hardworking, 110 00:06:17,667 --> 00:06:21,667 and both sides of the family were, uh, lifelong Democrats. 111 00:06:21,667 --> 00:06:23,875 If somebody had asked me was I a Democrat or Republican 112 00:06:23,875 --> 00:06:25,332 I probably would have said, 113 00:06:25,332 --> 00:06:27,750 "Well, you know, my family's all Democrats." 114 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,125 High school was a good time. 115 00:06:34,125 --> 00:06:36,875 Played football, played baseball, 116 00:06:36,875 --> 00:06:40,290 was senior class president. 117 00:06:40,290 --> 00:06:43,625 Everybody knew who Lynne was... She was a star. 118 00:06:43,625 --> 00:06:46,834 She was state champion baton twirler, 119 00:06:46,834 --> 00:06:48,834 and she was very attractive. 120 00:06:48,834 --> 00:06:50,290 You couldn't miss her. 121 00:06:50,290 --> 00:06:53,207 LYNNE CHENEY: He wasn't flashy, 122 00:06:53,207 --> 00:06:56,165 but as I got to know him better I found him 123 00:06:56,165 --> 00:06:59,875 one of the most thoughtful people I'd ever known. 124 00:06:59,875 --> 00:07:04,250 CHENEY: It was before the advent of the 60s. 125 00:07:04,250 --> 00:07:08,750 Nobody ever saw drugs in Casper in the 1950s. 126 00:07:08,750 --> 00:07:12,834 The most potent thing that was out there was a can of beer. 127 00:07:12,834 --> 00:07:16,542 We didn't face the kinds of problems and challenges 128 00:07:16,542 --> 00:07:19,667 that later generations did. 129 00:07:19,667 --> 00:07:22,165 NARRATOR: Upon Cheney's graduation from high school, 130 00:07:22,165 --> 00:07:24,375 a local oilman arranges a scholarship 131 00:07:24,375 --> 00:07:26,542 for him to attend Yale University. 132 00:07:29,457 --> 00:07:32,709 CHENEY: Totally different environment from what I was used to. 133 00:07:32,709 --> 00:07:36,082 Trees and buildings and people everywhere. 134 00:07:36,082 --> 00:07:38,667 I was all hemmed in. 135 00:07:38,667 --> 00:07:41,290 I didn't work at my academics. 136 00:07:41,290 --> 00:07:43,625 I found a bunch of friends who, uh, 137 00:07:43,625 --> 00:07:47,625 consumed a lot of beer, just as I did. 138 00:07:47,625 --> 00:07:48,875 NARRATOR: Cheney feels powerless, 139 00:07:48,875 --> 00:07:51,250 in an environment that favors the elite. 140 00:07:51,250 --> 00:07:54,709 RON SUSKIND: He can't measure up. These kids are too smart. 141 00:07:54,709 --> 00:07:57,290 They're maybe too privileged, 142 00:07:57,290 --> 00:07:59,834 they are too well nourished educationally. 143 00:07:59,834 --> 00:08:02,875 NARRATOR: Cheney fails out of Yale in his freshman year. 144 00:08:02,875 --> 00:08:06,791 He is allowed to return, but his scholarship is taken away. 145 00:08:06,791 --> 00:08:10,709 In his sophomore year, Cheney is asked to leave for good. 146 00:08:10,709 --> 00:08:12,625 JOE MYER: You gotta realize, we didn't have to work 147 00:08:12,625 --> 00:08:14,500 that hard in high school in Casper. 148 00:08:14,500 --> 00:08:17,917 I think we had good grades, but it may not have been 149 00:08:17,917 --> 00:08:20,082 a consequence totally of all our hard work. 150 00:08:20,082 --> 00:08:24,125 LYNNE CHENEY: I was stunned, I was very surprised. 151 00:08:24,125 --> 00:08:25,917 His parents had a letter from the Dean 152 00:08:25,917 --> 00:08:29,959 that said he'd become involved with a spirited group of men. 153 00:08:29,959 --> 00:08:32,582 INTERVIEWER: Were they disappointed in you at that time? 154 00:08:32,582 --> 00:08:34,625 CHENEY: Uh, I'm sure they were. 155 00:08:34,625 --> 00:08:36,709 I gave them reason to disapprove 156 00:08:36,709 --> 00:08:39,792 back when I was 19, 20, 21 years old. 157 00:08:43,792 --> 00:08:46,082 NARRATOR: Cheney gives up on his college education 158 00:08:46,082 --> 00:08:47,959 and returns to Wyoming. 159 00:08:47,959 --> 00:08:50,290 He finds work as a manual laborer, 160 00:08:50,290 --> 00:08:52,457 laying electrical cable. 161 00:08:52,457 --> 00:08:54,125 CHENEY: I lived pretty much day to day, 162 00:08:54,125 --> 00:08:55,834 paycheck to paycheck. 163 00:08:55,834 --> 00:08:59,457 There were times when it was a, be a gap between jobs, 164 00:08:59,457 --> 00:09:02,792 but then you could probably get credit at the local bar 165 00:09:02,792 --> 00:09:07,542 and they'd run a tab for you until you got a paycheck. 166 00:09:07,542 --> 00:09:09,500 When you came in at night or after work, 167 00:09:09,500 --> 00:09:13,875 you'd go to the bar and down large quantities of Coors beer. 168 00:09:13,875 --> 00:09:17,166 NARRATOR: Cheney is arrested twice in the span of nine months 169 00:09:17,166 --> 00:09:18,875 for drunk driving. 170 00:09:18,875 --> 00:09:21,207 CHENEY: When I was arrested for the second time 171 00:09:21,207 --> 00:09:23,792 for driving under the influence in Rock Springs, 172 00:09:23,792 --> 00:09:25,667 that was very sobering. 173 00:09:25,667 --> 00:09:30,041 My friends and classmates at Yale were all graduating, 174 00:09:30,041 --> 00:09:32,250 Lynne had graduated the previous year, early, 175 00:09:32,250 --> 00:09:34,125 from Colorado College. 176 00:09:34,125 --> 00:09:39,417 And I was in jail in Rock Springs, Wyoming. 177 00:09:39,417 --> 00:09:43,457 The real question is, you know, what are you gonna do now? 178 00:09:43,457 --> 00:09:46,457 NARRATOR: At the age of 22, Cheney is an itinerant lineman, 179 00:09:46,457 --> 00:09:49,000 who has flunked out of Yale twice, 180 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,417 with a growing arrest record and a drinking problem. 181 00:09:52,417 --> 00:09:54,709 He has hit bottom. 182 00:09:54,709 --> 00:09:57,375 He fails again and again in the early part of his life, 183 00:09:57,375 --> 00:09:59,250 all the way up until Lynne 184 00:09:59,250 --> 00:10:00,875 basically takes him and shakes him. 185 00:10:00,875 --> 00:10:03,375 She says, "I am not going to be married to a lineman, 186 00:10:03,375 --> 00:10:05,542 so step up buddy." 187 00:10:05,542 --> 00:10:08,417 INTERVIEWER: What did Lynne say to you? What was that conversation? 188 00:10:08,417 --> 00:10:12,291 Uh... Uh, that's still private. 189 00:10:12,291 --> 00:10:13,917 [CHUCKLES] 190 00:10:13,917 --> 00:10:19,207 There's a...a... It was clear she disapproved. 191 00:10:21,207 --> 00:10:23,792 I needed to get my act together, I needed to go back to school 192 00:10:23,792 --> 00:10:25,291 and get an education. 193 00:10:25,291 --> 00:10:28,833 NARRATOR: From now on, Cheney will control his own fate. 194 00:10:28,833 --> 00:10:31,667 He begins classes at the University of Wyoming, 195 00:10:31,667 --> 00:10:34,207 majoring in Political Science. 196 00:10:34,207 --> 00:10:36,250 Turned out when I went back and applied myself 197 00:10:36,250 --> 00:10:38,417 I was a pretty good student. 198 00:10:38,417 --> 00:10:42,417 A year later, Lynne finally agreed to get married. 199 00:10:46,792 --> 00:10:48,834 NARRATOR: After getting his Bachelor's degree, 200 00:10:48,834 --> 00:10:52,207 Cheney enters the University of Wisconsin, Madison. 201 00:10:52,207 --> 00:10:55,207 Once he has his Doctorate, the former college dropout 202 00:10:55,207 --> 00:10:58,207 plans to be a Professor of Political Science. 203 00:10:58,207 --> 00:11:00,375 PROTEST LEADER: The time to act is now, 204 00:11:00,375 --> 00:11:08,082 clearly and decisively against the war in Vietnam. 205 00:11:08,082 --> 00:11:13,125 we won't go! 206 00:11:17,166 --> 00:11:19,291 NARRATOR: Student protests against the Vietnam War 207 00:11:19,291 --> 00:11:21,000 are growing in numbers. 208 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,291 On the east coast, the center of the movement 209 00:11:23,291 --> 00:11:25,250 is Columbia University. 210 00:11:25,250 --> 00:11:27,457 On the west coast, it's Berkeley. 211 00:11:27,457 --> 00:11:33,040 And in the midwest, it's the University of Wisconsin. 212 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,250 CHENEY: Wisconsin had a reputation of being a pretty radical campus, 213 00:11:36,250 --> 00:11:39,000 riots and protests of various kinds. 214 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,457 National Guard was called out to restore order. 215 00:11:42,457 --> 00:11:45,457 I can remember the mime troupe meeting there, 216 00:11:45,457 --> 00:11:47,250 and the guys that ran around in white sheets 217 00:11:47,250 --> 00:11:51,792 with the entrails of pigs, dripping blood. 218 00:11:51,792 --> 00:11:54,500 I basically supported what the administration 219 00:11:54,500 --> 00:11:55,667 was doing at that point, 220 00:11:55,667 --> 00:11:58,375 so I was not an opponent of war. 221 00:11:58,375 --> 00:12:00,667 STEVEN HAYWARD: The country's deeply divided 222 00:12:00,667 --> 00:12:04,457 in a way you really almost hadn't seen since the civil war. 223 00:12:04,457 --> 00:12:07,457 We were trying very hard to get on with our lives, 224 00:12:07,457 --> 00:12:11,417 to complete our educations and start a family and so forth. 225 00:12:11,417 --> 00:12:14,207 A period of time when I think probably a lot of us 226 00:12:14,207 --> 00:12:18,082 made judgments or ended up having our political philosophy 227 00:12:18,082 --> 00:12:22,166 shaped and developed by what we saw happening in the society, 228 00:12:22,166 --> 00:12:25,166 and it certainly moved us in a conservative direction. 229 00:12:25,166 --> 00:12:28,542 [♪] 230 00:12:37,375 --> 00:12:41,207 NARRATOR: In 1968, a 27 year-old Cheney moves to Washington 231 00:12:41,207 --> 00:12:44,542 to participate in a fellowship that pairs graduate students 232 00:12:44,542 --> 00:12:46,125 with members of Congress. 233 00:12:46,125 --> 00:12:47,667 He wants to spend a year 234 00:12:47,667 --> 00:12:49,709 experiencing the political process up close 235 00:12:49,709 --> 00:12:51,457 before returning to his studies. 236 00:12:51,457 --> 00:12:54,040 CHENEY: There was an orientation session for those of us 237 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,040 in the Congressional Fellowship program. 238 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,290 One of the early speakers was a guy named Don Rumsfeld, 239 00:12:58,290 --> 00:13:01,375 I'd never heard of. 240 00:13:01,375 --> 00:13:05,082 He was young and dynamic, he was very impressive. 241 00:13:05,082 --> 00:13:07,833 So there are different ways that someone could do it. 242 00:13:07,833 --> 00:13:09,667 The task is there, the problem's there. 243 00:13:09,667 --> 00:13:11,207 The problem is to reduce the rate 244 00:13:11,207 --> 00:13:13,542 of increasing the cost of living. 245 00:13:13,542 --> 00:13:15,917 I had agreed to interview 246 00:13:15,917 --> 00:13:18,082 individuals that they'd selected, 247 00:13:18,082 --> 00:13:21,291 and one of those individuals turned out to be a young fellow 248 00:13:21,291 --> 00:13:25,000 from the University of Wisconsin graduate school. 249 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,750 CHENEY: That's probably the worst interview I ever had in my life. 250 00:13:27,750 --> 00:13:31,542 It's the only time I can recall I got thrown out of the office. 251 00:13:31,542 --> 00:13:33,125 If you're looking for warm and fuzzy, 252 00:13:33,125 --> 00:13:35,709 Rumsfeld's not the right place to go. 253 00:13:35,709 --> 00:13:38,750 Couple of months later, President Nixon announced 254 00:13:38,750 --> 00:13:41,542 that Rumsfeld then was being nominated 255 00:13:41,542 --> 00:13:43,582 to be Director of the Anti-Poverty program 256 00:13:43,582 --> 00:13:45,250 at the old office of Economic Opportunity. 257 00:13:45,250 --> 00:13:47,332 PRESIDENT NIXON: Sit down, please. 258 00:13:47,332 --> 00:13:51,625 Don Rumsfeld today is making what, for him, 259 00:13:51,625 --> 00:13:54,250 may be his hardest and most important political decision. 260 00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:56,875 He's giving up one of the safest seats 261 00:13:56,875 --> 00:14:00,417 in the Congress of the United States to take on 262 00:14:00,417 --> 00:14:02,207 one of the most important agencies, 263 00:14:02,207 --> 00:14:03,750 one of the most controversial agencies 264 00:14:03,750 --> 00:14:05,250 in the entire government. 265 00:14:05,250 --> 00:14:08,457 CHENEY: I sat down one night, unsolicited, 266 00:14:08,457 --> 00:14:10,041 and wrote a 12-page memo 267 00:14:10,041 --> 00:14:12,041 telling Rumsfeld what he should do 268 00:14:12,041 --> 00:14:13,582 in terms of confirmation hearings 269 00:14:13,582 --> 00:14:15,166 and how he should conduct himself. 270 00:14:15,166 --> 00:14:18,500 I ended up liking the memo and remembering Dick Cheney 271 00:14:18,500 --> 00:14:21,875 and asking him if he'd come to work with me. 272 00:14:21,875 --> 00:14:23,875 CHENEY: He looked up when I came in and said, 273 00:14:23,875 --> 00:14:25,375 "You're Congressional Relations, 274 00:14:25,375 --> 00:14:27,082 now get the hell outta here." 275 00:14:27,082 --> 00:14:31,166 I went down the hall, moved in and took over. 276 00:14:31,166 --> 00:14:33,582 We had offices over in the West Wing. 277 00:14:33,582 --> 00:14:35,165 That's prime real estate, 278 00:14:35,165 --> 00:14:38,667 especially for a young guy in Washington. 279 00:14:38,667 --> 00:14:41,290 RUMSFELD: The tougher things got, the better he got. 280 00:14:41,290 --> 00:14:45,165 He didn't ever get skittish or back off. 281 00:14:45,165 --> 00:14:47,834 He would decide what needed to be done, 282 00:14:47,834 --> 00:14:50,417 and then go about and do it. 283 00:14:50,417 --> 00:14:55,667 JAMES MANN: Rumsfeld is a very combative bureaucratic player. 284 00:14:55,667 --> 00:15:00,917 Wherever he is, he's pushing for more turf for himself, 285 00:15:00,917 --> 00:15:05,000 so Cheney watches all that, learning at Rumsfeld's feet. 286 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,332 And this is the beginning of Cheney's sort of growth, 287 00:15:08,332 --> 00:15:13,582 his first role as the guy right behind him, the number two. 288 00:15:13,582 --> 00:15:16,332 The guy who's gonna stay up twice as late as you, 289 00:15:16,332 --> 00:15:19,417 the guy's thinking of things before you even think of them. 290 00:15:28,375 --> 00:15:31,041 INTERVIEWER: How much exposure did you have to President Nixon, 291 00:15:31,041 --> 00:15:33,000 during those years when you were...? 292 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,082 He was probably the first president 293 00:15:35,082 --> 00:15:36,709 I ever met and shook hands with. 294 00:15:36,709 --> 00:15:39,709 Rumsfeld took some of us into the oval office one day 295 00:15:39,709 --> 00:15:41,125 on sort of a morale booster, 296 00:15:41,125 --> 00:15:44,250 different cabinet members would bring their key staff in. 297 00:15:44,250 --> 00:15:46,709 NARRATOR: As the 1972 election draws near, 298 00:15:46,709 --> 00:15:49,500 Chen is offered a job working for Nixon's committee 299 00:15:49,500 --> 00:15:51,082 to re-elect the president. 300 00:15:51,082 --> 00:15:54,207 But Rumsfeld wants to keep his trusted deputy. 301 00:15:54,207 --> 00:15:56,332 I made a good decision, I went with Rumsfeld 302 00:15:56,332 --> 00:16:00,750 so I was not near when the train wreck happened. 303 00:16:00,750 --> 00:16:03,625 HARRY REASONER: A federal grand jury indicts seven former aides 304 00:16:03,625 --> 00:16:05,833 and campaign associates of President Nixon's. 305 00:16:05,833 --> 00:16:07,750 NARRATOR: With Nixon's approval, 306 00:16:07,750 --> 00:16:09,417 a group of government-paid operatives 307 00:16:09,417 --> 00:16:12,332 spies on the president's political enemies. 308 00:16:12,332 --> 00:16:14,250 Nixon's men are caught during a burglary 309 00:16:14,250 --> 00:16:16,291 at the Watergate complex. 310 00:16:16,291 --> 00:16:18,375 The president himself then participates 311 00:16:18,375 --> 00:16:20,750 in the attempt to cover up their crimes. 312 00:16:20,750 --> 00:16:24,000 Watergate obviously was absolutely devastating. 313 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:25,875 Having known some of the people involved, 314 00:16:25,875 --> 00:16:28,417 and watching that whole thing unfold, 315 00:16:28,417 --> 00:16:32,917 it was...a political scandal of major proportions. 316 00:16:32,917 --> 00:16:34,582 NEW REPORTER: More than 50,000 telegrams 317 00:16:34,582 --> 00:16:37,250 poured in on Capitol Hill today, so many, 318 00:16:37,250 --> 00:16:38,959 Western Union was swamped. 319 00:16:38,959 --> 00:16:42,125 They just say, "Impeach Richard Nixon, 320 00:16:42,125 --> 00:16:44,000 or force him to resign." 321 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,207 NARRATOR: As Watergate shakes the country, 322 00:16:46,207 --> 00:16:48,417 Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, 323 00:16:48,417 --> 00:16:51,290 is charged with bribery and forced from office. 324 00:16:51,290 --> 00:16:53,375 NIXON: The vice president of the United States, 325 00:16:53,375 --> 00:16:55,667 Congressman Gerald Ford of Michigan. 326 00:16:55,667 --> 00:16:57,457 [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] 327 00:16:57,457 --> 00:17:00,166 NARRATOR: Nixon chooses house minority leader Gerald Ford 328 00:17:00,166 --> 00:17:01,958 as his new vice president, 329 00:17:01,958 --> 00:17:04,125 the first unelected vice president 330 00:17:04,125 --> 00:17:06,625 in United States history. 331 00:17:06,625 --> 00:17:09,125 Through '73 and on into the summer of '74, 332 00:17:09,125 --> 00:17:12,625 those were sort of the crucial 18 months of Watergate. 333 00:17:12,625 --> 00:17:14,458 STEPHEN HAYES: He did have a front row seat. 334 00:17:14,458 --> 00:17:16,666 He could see everything evolve sort of 335 00:17:16,666 --> 00:17:17,834 at every step along the way. 336 00:17:17,834 --> 00:17:20,791 And in all of my years of public life, 337 00:17:20,791 --> 00:17:23,000 I have never obstructed justice. 338 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,208 How can you talk about blackmail and bribery 339 00:17:25,208 --> 00:17:26,834 and keeping witnesses silent? 340 00:17:26,834 --> 00:17:29,290 This is the Presidency of the United States. 341 00:17:29,290 --> 00:17:31,416 Congress became very aggressive 342 00:17:31,416 --> 00:17:34,666 at trying to reassert some balance of power 343 00:17:34,666 --> 00:17:36,541 in the federal government. 344 00:17:36,541 --> 00:17:39,000 The Congress sort of felt their oats. 345 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,791 When you've got the president in your sights 346 00:17:41,791 --> 00:17:44,165 and you've got the prospects of impeachment, 347 00:17:44,165 --> 00:17:46,916 that, you know, radically shifts the balance 348 00:17:46,916 --> 00:17:48,625 between the two branches. 349 00:17:48,625 --> 00:17:51,208 The meeting will come to order, 350 00:17:51,208 --> 00:17:53,208 for the House of Representatives 351 00:17:53,208 --> 00:17:56,500 to exercise its Constitutional power 352 00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:59,750 to impeach Richard M. Nixon. 353 00:17:59,750 --> 00:18:03,834 I have never been a quitter. 354 00:18:03,834 --> 00:18:06,875 To leave office before my term is over is abhorrent 355 00:18:06,875 --> 00:18:10,750 to every instinct in my body. 356 00:18:10,750 --> 00:18:12,375 REPORTER 1: Vice President Ford 357 00:18:12,375 --> 00:18:15,375 will become the nation's 38th president tomorrow. 358 00:18:15,375 --> 00:18:18,290 REPORTER 2: Indications are Ford will ask the entire Nixon cabinet 359 00:18:18,290 --> 00:18:20,709 to stay on. 360 00:18:20,709 --> 00:18:22,290 Ford's choice for vice president, 361 00:18:22,290 --> 00:18:24,458 Nelson Rockefeller. 362 00:18:24,458 --> 00:18:29,125 NARRATOR: On August 9th, 1974, Gerald R. Ford is sworn in 363 00:18:29,125 --> 00:18:32,333 as the 38th president of the United States. 364 00:18:32,333 --> 00:18:35,040 RUMSFELD: He became the only man in our history 365 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,208 to become President having never run for vice president 366 00:18:38,208 --> 00:18:41,165 or president, so he didn't have a campaign team. 367 00:18:41,165 --> 00:18:45,208 He didn't have a policy team, he didn't have a platform. 368 00:18:45,208 --> 00:18:47,125 GERALD FORD: My fellow Americans, 369 00:18:47,125 --> 00:18:51,583 our long national nightmare is over. 370 00:18:54,250 --> 00:18:56,040 NARRATOR: Within days of taking office, 371 00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:00,040 President Ford's approval ratings reached 71 percent. 372 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,875 But one month later, Ford squanders the good will. 373 00:19:02,875 --> 00:19:04,375 REPORTER: Today, in a move 374 00:19:04,375 --> 00:19:06,458 which caught just about everybody by surprise, 375 00:19:06,458 --> 00:19:09,250 President Ford made the most controversial decision 376 00:19:09,250 --> 00:19:11,250 he has made since assuming office 377 00:19:11,250 --> 00:19:14,208 just one month ago tomorrow. 378 00:19:14,208 --> 00:19:17,875 FORD: Now therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, 379 00:19:17,875 --> 00:19:22,416 have granted a full, free, and absolute pardon 380 00:19:22,416 --> 00:19:24,250 onto Richard Nixon, 381 00:19:24,250 --> 00:19:27,750 for all offenses against the United States which... 382 00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:30,916 RUMSFELD: It came as a stunning action, 383 00:19:30,916 --> 00:19:33,333 a...a shock to the American people. 384 00:19:33,333 --> 00:19:35,625 REPORTER 1: This means Mr. Nixon cannot be prosecuted 385 00:19:35,625 --> 00:19:38,125 for any possible Watergate crimes. 386 00:19:38,125 --> 00:19:40,125 REPORTER 2: Do you think the Nixon pardon 387 00:19:40,125 --> 00:19:42,541 really serd to bind up the nation's wounds? 388 00:19:42,541 --> 00:19:47,040 The decision has created more antagonism 389 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:48,875 than I anticipated. 390 00:19:48,875 --> 00:19:51,290 REPORTER 3: Do you think that there is any evidence 391 00:19:51,290 --> 00:19:56,083 there was a deal made between Mr. Nixon and Mr. Ford? 392 00:19:56,083 --> 00:19:57,750 I think we have to say 393 00:19:57,750 --> 00:19:59,916 there are a lot of unanswered questions tonight. 394 00:19:59,916 --> 00:20:02,333 Just how much damage has this done 395 00:20:02,333 --> 00:20:04,709 to the president's relations with Congress? 396 00:20:04,709 --> 00:20:07,125 I would predict rough going for Mr. Ford 397 00:20:07,125 --> 00:20:09,040 from now on in his dealings with Congress. 398 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:11,083 NARRATOR: Ford needs help. 399 00:20:11,083 --> 00:20:14,875 He brings in Donald Rumsfeld as his new Chief of Staff. 400 00:20:14,875 --> 00:20:17,834 Rumsfeld then hires a 33 year-old Dick Cheney 401 00:20:17,834 --> 00:20:19,541 as his second in command. 402 00:20:19,541 --> 00:20:23,125 CHENEY: I'd gone from being the assistant to Rumsfeld, 403 00:20:23,125 --> 00:20:25,000 and all of a sudden I'm the number two 404 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,834 and the Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House. 405 00:20:27,834 --> 00:20:30,000 I'm 33 years old. 406 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,208 Based on Rumsfeld's word, 407 00:20:32,208 --> 00:20:36,834 Gerry Ford immediately gave me his approval. 408 00:20:36,834 --> 00:20:39,750 Working for Ford I got a much closer post 409 00:20:39,750 --> 00:20:41,541 from which to observe the presidency 410 00:20:41,541 --> 00:20:44,416 and all the pressures that are exerted on a president 411 00:20:44,416 --> 00:20:46,333 and decisions that needed to be made. 412 00:20:46,333 --> 00:20:49,333 HAYES: One day Ford would have a note sent to Cheney 413 00:20:49,333 --> 00:20:51,250 that said, "Can you schedule my haircut?" 414 00:20:51,250 --> 00:20:53,165 And the next day it would say, 415 00:20:53,165 --> 00:20:55,625 "What's the status on our nukes?" 416 00:20:55,625 --> 00:20:58,125 NARRATOR: The first task Cheney and Rumsfeld face 417 00:20:58,125 --> 00:21:00,583 is restoring the authority of the president. 418 00:21:00,583 --> 00:21:03,165 Congress is demanding that Ford appear on Capitol Hill 419 00:21:03,165 --> 00:21:05,375 to explain his pardon of Nixon. 420 00:21:05,375 --> 00:21:07,416 Rumsfeld and other staffers plead with Ford 421 00:21:07,416 --> 00:21:09,541 not to go to Congress. 422 00:21:09,541 --> 00:21:12,959 INTERVIEWER: What was the risk of his going to Congress? 423 00:21:12,959 --> 00:21:15,040 Uh, precedent it sets. 424 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:19,666 Um... One of the things you have to be aware of 425 00:21:19,666 --> 00:21:22,208 and sensitive to, I think, as president 426 00:21:22,208 --> 00:21:27,709 is that the things you do, um...are important 427 00:21:27,709 --> 00:21:29,709 not only for the here and now, 428 00:21:29,709 --> 00:21:32,750 but they oftentimes can have an impact long-term. 429 00:21:32,750 --> 00:21:35,959 DEFRANK: You would not expect a leader of the executive branch 430 00:21:35,959 --> 00:21:37,875 to go, in effect, hat in hand 431 00:21:37,875 --> 00:21:41,250 to the legislative branch and answer their questions, 432 00:21:41,250 --> 00:21:43,500 but Ford thought that was important 433 00:21:43,500 --> 00:21:48,959 and he overruled Rumsfeld and he overruled Cheney. 434 00:21:48,959 --> 00:21:52,000 NARRATOR: Just one month after joining the Ford White House, 435 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,709 Cheney watches from the gallery as the president 436 00:21:54,709 --> 00:21:57,541 is humbled by Congress. 437 00:21:57,541 --> 00:22:00,375 CONGRESSMAN: I'm wondering, if after all that has happened 438 00:22:00,375 --> 00:22:03,125 and with further opportunity for reflection, 439 00:22:03,125 --> 00:22:06,916 if you do not now feel that you perhaps acted too hastily 440 00:22:06,916 --> 00:22:08,250 in this case. 441 00:22:08,250 --> 00:22:11,000 FORD: I was absolutely convinced then, 442 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,000 as I am now, that if we had had 443 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,791 an indictment, a trial, a conviction, 444 00:22:17,791 --> 00:22:20,500 that the attention of the president, the Congress, 445 00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:22,750 and the American people would have been diverted 446 00:22:22,750 --> 00:22:26,959 from the problems we have to solve. 447 00:22:26,959 --> 00:22:30,583 MANN: Ford's testimony is one of the very first instances 448 00:22:30,583 --> 00:22:36,458 where Cheney sees the impact of and objects to 449 00:22:36,458 --> 00:22:42,333 Congressional intrusions on presidential power. 450 00:22:42,333 --> 00:22:46,500 CHENEY: I think there's no question that those days after Watergate 451 00:22:46,500 --> 00:22:48,916 the presidency was in a weakened condition. 452 00:22:48,916 --> 00:22:52,165 Congress sort of moved aggressively into the vacuum 453 00:22:52,165 --> 00:22:53,458 that had been filled by that. 454 00:22:56,416 --> 00:23:00,000 SUSKIND: Rumsfeld and Cheney develop a kind of autonomy 455 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,040 and also a kind of leverage over others. 456 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,875 NARRATOR: Behind their backs, members of the administration 457 00:23:05,875 --> 00:23:07,583 begin calling Cheney and Rumsfeld 458 00:23:07,583 --> 00:23:09,165 the Praetorian Guard, 459 00:23:09,165 --> 00:23:11,500 referring to elite soldiers in ancient Rome 460 00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:13,541 who protected the emperor but also wielded 461 00:23:13,541 --> 00:23:15,625 tremendous power themselves. 462 00:23:15,625 --> 00:23:19,333 RUMSFELD: There was a lot of tension between the Ford staff 463 00:23:19,333 --> 00:23:22,500 and the, uh, Nixon White House staff 464 00:23:22,500 --> 00:23:25,000 which President Ford had decided to keep. 465 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,000 Rumsfeld and Cheney often knocked heads 466 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,125 with Henry Kissinger. 467 00:23:30,125 --> 00:23:31,791 Henry had two hats. 468 00:23:31,791 --> 00:23:33,290 He was the Secretary of State 469 00:23:33,290 --> 00:23:35,834 and he was the National Security Advisor. 470 00:23:35,834 --> 00:23:41,750 DEFRANK: Kissinger was larger than life and Ford deferred to him. 471 00:23:41,750 --> 00:23:44,083 NARRATOR: But Cheney and Rumsfeld distrust Kissinger 472 00:23:44,083 --> 00:23:47,040 because they consider him soft on the Soviet Union. 473 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,583 DEFRANK: Rumsfeld and Cheney were also maneuvering 474 00:23:49,583 --> 00:23:52,165 against several other people. 475 00:23:52,165 --> 00:23:54,040 CHENEY: I did not have a close relationship 476 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:55,458 with Vice President Rockefeller, 477 00:23:55,458 --> 00:23:59,333 he and I were hostile, I was the young kid, 478 00:23:59,333 --> 00:24:01,791 uh, half his age. 479 00:24:01,791 --> 00:24:04,290 DEFRANK: There was a feeling Rockefeller was probably 480 00:24:04,290 --> 00:24:06,750 too liberal for Republicans. 481 00:24:06,750 --> 00:24:09,040 HAYWARD: He had lots of ideas for new social programs 482 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,541 like the ones that he had done in New York as governor. 483 00:24:12,541 --> 00:24:16,541 CHENEY: Rockefeller believed I was the guy shooting down his proposals, 484 00:24:16,541 --> 00:24:18,583 which to some extent I was. 485 00:24:18,583 --> 00:24:21,125 NARRATOR: The internal conflicts come to a head 486 00:24:21,125 --> 00:24:23,916 just as the presidential primary campaign begins. 487 00:24:23,916 --> 00:24:26,458 All governments are going to have to reduce 488 00:24:26,458 --> 00:24:28,000 government's appetite, 489 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,458 and let the people have a little more of their own money 490 00:24:30,458 --> 00:24:32,083 in their pockets to spend as they see fit, 491 00:24:32,083 --> 00:24:34,375 or this system of ours isn't going to work any longer. 492 00:24:34,375 --> 00:24:36,916 NARRATOR: Ford, still reeling from his pardon of Nixon, 493 00:24:36,916 --> 00:24:40,250 is vulnerable to a primary challenge from Ronald Reagan, 494 00:24:40,250 --> 00:24:41,916 the popular and deeply conservative 495 00:24:41,916 --> 00:24:43,583 former governor of California. 496 00:24:43,583 --> 00:24:46,333 And you don't discipline an irresponsible Congress 497 00:24:46,333 --> 00:24:49,083 by putting an indulgent friend in the White House. 498 00:24:49,083 --> 00:24:52,834 NARRATOR: Rumsfeld and Cheney are determined to shore up 499 00:24:52,834 --> 00:24:55,125 the Republican base by pushing the moderate president 500 00:24:55,125 --> 00:24:57,208 further to the right. 501 00:24:57,208 --> 00:25:00,583 RUMSFELD: We thought the president needed to make some changes 502 00:25:00,583 --> 00:25:04,666 that he had been slow in arriving at. 503 00:25:04,666 --> 00:25:06,458 CHENEY: Rumsfeld and I, 504 00:25:06,458 --> 00:25:08,416 we wrote a lengthy memo to the president, 505 00:25:08,416 --> 00:25:11,458 that recommended a lot of changes. 506 00:25:11,458 --> 00:25:13,208 NARRATOR: Over the course of three days, 507 00:25:13,208 --> 00:25:16,125 Cheney and Rumsfeld engineer what comes to be known 508 00:25:16,125 --> 00:25:17,959 as The Halloween Massacre. 509 00:25:17,959 --> 00:25:23,541 SUSKIND: They knock out the core staff of the Ford administration. 510 00:25:23,541 --> 00:25:26,040 NARRATOR: Henry Kissinger is forced to give up his duties 511 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:27,959 as National Security Advisor. 512 00:25:27,959 --> 00:25:31,541 CHENEY: You got a guy who's dominant in the Nixon administration 513 00:25:31,541 --> 00:25:33,583 and who had survived all that, 514 00:25:33,583 --> 00:25:36,541 but he's running your foreign policy so you needed to, 515 00:25:36,541 --> 00:25:39,875 to mix things up a bit there. So he went down. 516 00:25:39,875 --> 00:25:43,165 SUSKIND: They as well kneecapped Nelson Rockefeller, 517 00:25:43,165 --> 00:25:45,791 the vice president. 518 00:25:45,791 --> 00:25:50,333 NARRATOR: Rockefeller announces he will not run for election in 1976. 519 00:25:52,165 --> 00:25:54,625 Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger 520 00:25:54,625 --> 00:25:56,040 is removed from office. 521 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:57,916 REPORTER: Were you fired or did you quit? 522 00:25:57,916 --> 00:26:00,208 SCHLESINGER: I have no comment to make. 523 00:26:00,208 --> 00:26:04,000 NARRATOR: Cheney and Rumsfeld have two more moves to make. 524 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,250 Ford names Rumsfeld as the new Secretary of Defense. 525 00:26:09,250 --> 00:26:11,083 And at the age of 34, 526 00:26:11,083 --> 00:26:14,000 Dick Cheney becomes the youngest White House Chief of Staff 527 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,916 in American history. 528 00:26:15,916 --> 00:26:19,666 INTERVIEWER: Pretty sophisticated series of chess moves. 529 00:26:19,666 --> 00:26:20,916 Mm-hm. 530 00:26:23,625 --> 00:26:25,875 Right. 531 00:26:25,875 --> 00:26:30,375 That first, you know, major turning moment 532 00:26:30,375 --> 00:26:33,416 in my life was the summer of '63. 533 00:26:33,416 --> 00:26:35,250 12 years later I'm Chief of Staff, 534 00:26:35,250 --> 00:26:36,875 the youngest one in history. 535 00:26:36,875 --> 00:26:40,208 So that was a... It was a major transformation obviously 536 00:26:40,208 --> 00:26:44,666 from, uh, where I had been 12 years before. 537 00:26:44,666 --> 00:26:47,916 HAYES: He said to me he didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, 538 00:26:47,916 --> 00:26:49,791 that he had a job to do and things were in front of him, 539 00:26:49,791 --> 00:26:51,541 but one would imagine 540 00:26:51,541 --> 00:26:53,375 if you're Chief of Staff of the White House, 541 00:26:53,375 --> 00:26:55,000 and you're in your mid 30's, 542 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,208 that's a moment where you do take some time to stop 543 00:26:57,208 --> 00:26:58,458 and sort of reflect and say, 544 00:26:58,458 --> 00:27:01,875 you know, this is a big moment. 545 00:27:01,875 --> 00:27:04,583 NARRATOR: But Cheney's rise to power is just beginning. 546 00:27:04,583 --> 00:27:06,875 [♪] 547 00:27:06,875 --> 00:27:09,000 After serving in the Ford White House, 548 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,834 Cheney goes on to represent Wyoming in Congress 549 00:27:11,834 --> 00:27:13,083 for ten years. 550 00:27:13,083 --> 00:27:15,290 Mr. Speaker, this bill is a turkey 551 00:27:15,290 --> 00:27:16,791 and I would urge its defeat. 552 00:27:16,791 --> 00:27:19,083 NORMAN ORNSTEIN: It didn't take a lot of insight 553 00:27:19,083 --> 00:27:22,250 to figure that Dick Cheney was gonna make his mark. 554 00:27:22,250 --> 00:27:24,916 In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it 555 00:27:24,916 --> 00:27:27,916 and Mr. Cheney is elected Minority Whip. 556 00:27:27,916 --> 00:27:29,500 [APPLAUSE] 557 00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:30,834 NARRATOR: He quickly ascends 558 00:27:30,834 --> 00:27:32,791 to the Republican Congressional Leadership. 559 00:27:32,791 --> 00:27:34,834 As a member of the Intelligence Committee, 560 00:27:34,834 --> 00:27:37,290 he masters the complexities of national security 561 00:27:37,290 --> 00:27:39,583 and international relations. 562 00:27:39,583 --> 00:27:41,416 And when Ronald Reagan comes under fire 563 00:27:41,416 --> 00:27:44,375 for the covert operations known as Iran Contra, 564 00:27:44,375 --> 00:27:45,625 Representative Cheney's 565 00:27:45,625 --> 00:27:47,583 expertise in the intelligence world, 566 00:27:47,583 --> 00:27:49,791 helps him gain the position of ranking member 567 00:27:49,791 --> 00:27:52,875 of the committee investigating the president's actions. 568 00:27:52,875 --> 00:27:55,040 CHENEY: In my opinion there is no justification 569 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,333 for further restrictions on the power of future presidents. 570 00:27:58,333 --> 00:28:02,625 NARRATOR: The Iran Contra hearings make Dick Cheney a household name. 571 00:28:02,625 --> 00:28:06,208 In 1989, after George H. W. Bush is elected president, 572 00:28:06,208 --> 00:28:09,791 he asks Cheney to serve as his Secretary of Defense. 573 00:28:09,791 --> 00:28:12,834 There are 92 yayes and no nays, 574 00:28:12,834 --> 00:28:14,709 the nomination of Richard B. Cheney 575 00:28:14,709 --> 00:28:17,208 to be Secretary of Defense is confirmed. 576 00:28:17,208 --> 00:28:19,541 NARRATOR: Two years later, Cheney leads efforts 577 00:28:19,541 --> 00:28:22,040 to build a multinational coalition to fight Iraq 578 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:23,625 in the Persian Gulf War. 579 00:28:23,625 --> 00:28:25,416 CHENEY: We did exactly what we set out to do. 580 00:28:25,416 --> 00:28:29,250 We liberated Kuwait, and we destroyed the vast bulk 581 00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:32,333 of Saddam Hussein's offensive military capability. 582 00:28:32,333 --> 00:28:33,666 MARIO CUOMO: Mr. Secretary, 583 00:28:33,666 --> 00:28:35,333 you managed an immense enterprise 584 00:28:35,333 --> 00:28:36,834 with startling success, 585 00:28:36,834 --> 00:28:38,583 a military and civilian defense system 586 00:28:38,583 --> 00:28:40,709 without equal in history. 587 00:28:40,709 --> 00:28:41,959 [CHEERING] 588 00:28:41,959 --> 00:28:43,666 BILL CLINTON: On this day, 589 00:28:43,666 --> 00:28:48,000 the American people have voted to make a new beginning. 590 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,541 NARRATOR: When George H. W. Bush loses his bid for re-election, 591 00:28:51,541 --> 00:28:53,666 Cheney finds himself out of a job. 592 00:28:53,666 --> 00:28:55,625 But he has his eye on a new one. 593 00:28:55,625 --> 00:28:58,000 President of the United States. 594 00:29:00,750 --> 00:29:03,333 He drives thousands of miles crisscrossing the country, 595 00:29:03,333 --> 00:29:05,500 trying to drum up support. 596 00:29:05,500 --> 00:29:07,458 CHENEY: I spent a lot of time on the road. 597 00:29:07,458 --> 00:29:12,666 I thought that I was qualified by background and experience 598 00:29:12,666 --> 00:29:15,416 to do the job. I mean, I believed I, 599 00:29:15,416 --> 00:29:18,125 that I could function effectively as president. 600 00:29:18,125 --> 00:29:20,500 DEFRANK: He did all the things you're supposed to do. 601 00:29:20,500 --> 00:29:22,165 You raise a little money, 602 00:29:22,165 --> 00:29:24,290 you form a political action committee, 603 00:29:24,290 --> 00:29:26,500 you put out feelers. 604 00:29:26,500 --> 00:29:29,208 ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, Dick Cheney. 605 00:29:29,208 --> 00:29:31,040 CHENEY: Part of that was to assess 606 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,083 that basic question about my willingness to do 607 00:29:34,083 --> 00:29:36,709 what I would have to do, and no guarantee you're gonna-- 608 00:29:36,709 --> 00:29:38,083 You can't just say "I'm gonna run" 609 00:29:38,083 --> 00:29:39,875 and expect to get elected. 610 00:29:39,875 --> 00:29:41,750 REPORTER: Are you testing the Iowa waters? 611 00:29:41,750 --> 00:29:43,416 I'm out all across the country this year, 612 00:29:43,416 --> 00:29:45,541 because it's a campaign year, helping the party, 613 00:29:45,541 --> 00:29:47,375 helping candidates and tonight I have the-- 614 00:29:47,375 --> 00:29:49,834 BARTON GELLMAN: He is not good at retail politics, 615 00:29:49,834 --> 00:29:53,083 and more importantly he doesn't like it. 616 00:29:53,083 --> 00:29:55,791 NARRATOR: Cheney never garners more than three percent support 617 00:29:55,791 --> 00:29:57,416 in pre-election polls. 618 00:29:57,416 --> 00:30:00,250 His fundraising lags far behind other contenders, 619 00:30:00,250 --> 00:30:02,750 like Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, 620 00:30:02,750 --> 00:30:05,290 and the eventual nominee, Bob Dole. 621 00:30:05,290 --> 00:30:09,125 CHENEY: I put out about a one word, two word press release, 622 00:30:09,125 --> 00:30:11,541 uh, thanking my supporters for their interest 623 00:30:11,541 --> 00:30:12,916 and saying I'd made a decision 624 00:30:12,916 --> 00:30:15,916 not to be a candidate, thank you very much. 625 00:30:15,916 --> 00:30:19,666 NARRATOR: Cheney realizes he will never be elected president. 626 00:30:19,666 --> 00:30:23,125 He retires to private life, accepting a job as CEO 627 00:30:23,125 --> 00:30:26,165 of Halliburton, a multinational oil company. 628 00:30:26,165 --> 00:30:29,165 CHENEY: I did that for five years and I was very happy doing it. 629 00:30:29,165 --> 00:30:33,416 We had over 100,000 employees over 100 countries 630 00:30:33,416 --> 00:30:34,416 around the world, 631 00:30:34,416 --> 00:30:36,541 and we were involved in a wide range 632 00:30:36,541 --> 00:30:39,625 of basically energy-based activities. 633 00:30:39,625 --> 00:30:44,165 Dad was a religious consumer of information about the company. 634 00:30:44,165 --> 00:30:47,208 He said to my brother one day, showed him the annual report 635 00:30:47,208 --> 00:30:49,541 and said, "Look at that, can you imagine what 636 00:30:49,541 --> 00:30:51,416 they're paying the kid?" 637 00:30:51,416 --> 00:30:56,333 That's...that was his take on my time at Halliburton. 638 00:30:56,333 --> 00:30:58,625 Cheney really never extinguished 639 00:30:58,625 --> 00:31:00,666 his political ambitions. 640 00:31:00,666 --> 00:31:04,416 He always said he did, maybe in his own mind he did. 641 00:31:04,416 --> 00:31:06,959 But, you know, once you're a political animal, 642 00:31:06,959 --> 00:31:10,959 you know where the big seat in the zoo is 643 00:31:10,959 --> 00:31:13,834 and it's being president of the United States. 644 00:31:13,834 --> 00:31:17,709 CROWD [CHANTING]: We want Bush! We want Bush! 645 00:31:17,709 --> 00:31:21,165 ANNOUNCER: We are proud to introduce you today to the future president 646 00:31:21,165 --> 00:31:26,165 of this great nation, Governor George W. Bush. 647 00:31:26,165 --> 00:31:27,834 NARRATOR: In the summer of 2000, 648 00:31:27,834 --> 00:31:30,666 Texas Governor George W. Bush becomes the presumptive 649 00:31:30,666 --> 00:31:32,916 Republican nominee for president. 650 00:31:32,916 --> 00:31:35,500 GEORGE W. BUSH: I'm looking forward to working my heart out 651 00:31:35,500 --> 00:31:37,000 for the next four months. 652 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,709 Four months till we rid this nation of Clinton-Gore. 653 00:31:39,709 --> 00:31:41,583 Four months. 654 00:31:41,583 --> 00:31:43,750 NARRATOR: Bush faces a tough election against incumbent 655 00:31:43,750 --> 00:31:45,834 vice president Al Gore. 656 00:31:45,834 --> 00:31:47,834 Questions are being raised about the Governor's 657 00:31:47,834 --> 00:31:49,583 foreign policy experience. 658 00:31:49,583 --> 00:31:51,458 REPORTER: Prime Minister of India? 659 00:31:51,458 --> 00:31:58,040 Uh, the new Prime Minister of India is uh...uh, no. 660 00:31:58,040 --> 00:31:59,875 NARRATOR: Bush needs to reassure voters 661 00:31:59,875 --> 00:32:02,000 worried about his limited resume. 662 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,709 His choice of a running mate is a chance to put 663 00:32:04,709 --> 00:32:06,040 those concerns to rest. 664 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,250 Former Secretary Dick Cheney 665 00:32:08,250 --> 00:32:10,165 is gonna head my vice presidential 666 00:32:10,165 --> 00:32:11,666 search committee. 667 00:32:11,666 --> 00:32:13,875 NARRATOR: Bush asks Cheney to be considered 668 00:32:13,875 --> 00:32:15,583 as a vice presidential candidate. 669 00:32:15,583 --> 00:32:17,040 Cheney says no. 670 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,250 CHENEY: I had seen the unpleasantness. 671 00:32:20,250 --> 00:32:22,541 A number of other vice presidents had 672 00:32:22,541 --> 00:32:23,916 had negative experiences. 673 00:32:23,916 --> 00:32:25,916 Gerry Ford always told me, he said, 674 00:32:25,916 --> 00:32:27,541 the worst job he ever had in his life, 675 00:32:27,541 --> 00:32:28,709 the worst eight months of his life 676 00:32:28,709 --> 00:32:30,208 was when he was vice president 677 00:32:30,208 --> 00:32:32,000 of the United States, he hated the job. 678 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,834 Cheney was happy in his new life at Halliburton, 679 00:32:34,834 --> 00:32:37,625 he had lots on his mind, lots still to do, 680 00:32:37,625 --> 00:32:40,165 uh, and was not looking for the job. 681 00:32:40,165 --> 00:32:42,375 NARRATOR: But Cheney does agree to help Bush 682 00:32:42,375 --> 00:32:44,416 with the vice presidential search. 683 00:32:44,416 --> 00:32:48,916 I'm honored he would take time out of his busy life to do so. 684 00:32:48,916 --> 00:32:50,916 I can't think of a better person to do it, 685 00:32:50,916 --> 00:32:52,416 he's a man of enormous experience, 686 00:32:52,416 --> 00:32:54,125 and I'd be glad to answer a few questions on him. 687 00:32:54,125 --> 00:32:56,625 REPORTER: Does this mean he is not a candidate? 688 00:32:56,625 --> 00:32:59,165 Assume, rule him out? 689 00:32:59,165 --> 00:33:02,583 That's a very interesting question. 690 00:33:02,583 --> 00:33:06,208 CHENEY: It started with a list of dozens of people, 691 00:33:06,208 --> 00:33:09,625 all the Republican governors and all the Republican senators. 692 00:33:09,625 --> 00:33:12,375 Virtually anybody that you could conceive of 693 00:33:12,375 --> 00:33:15,625 as a prospective candidate and then we narrowed that down. 694 00:33:15,625 --> 00:33:20,458 GELLMAN: He began devising what everybody involved described as 695 00:33:20,458 --> 00:33:23,458 the most comprehensive, most intrusive 696 00:33:23,458 --> 00:33:26,709 vetting process ever used. 697 00:33:26,709 --> 00:33:28,750 CHENEY: We wanted ten years of tax returns, 698 00:33:28,750 --> 00:33:30,709 we wanted, uh, their health records. 699 00:33:30,709 --> 00:33:33,916 We wanted to know if they'd ever been involved in any kind 700 00:33:33,916 --> 00:33:36,625 of scrape that might be an embarrassment to the president. 701 00:33:36,625 --> 00:33:40,000 GELLMAN: Since he didn't trust anyone to give all the records, 702 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,290 he made them sign waivers and powers of attorney. 703 00:33:42,290 --> 00:33:45,333 It was a pretty exhaustive proposition. 704 00:33:45,333 --> 00:33:47,500 I'm not sure I would have gone through all of that 705 00:33:47,500 --> 00:33:49,625 if I'd been asked. 706 00:33:49,625 --> 00:33:51,875 GELLMAN: He would meet from time to time with Bush, 707 00:33:51,875 --> 00:33:54,125 tell him, here's what we found on Lamar Alexander, 708 00:33:54,125 --> 00:33:55,959 here's what we found on Frank Keating. 709 00:33:55,959 --> 00:33:57,625 Pretty much every time, 710 00:33:57,625 --> 00:34:00,125 you're coming up with something that raises an eyebrow 711 00:34:00,125 --> 00:34:02,416 and makes you worry a little bit. 712 00:34:02,416 --> 00:34:04,040 NARRATOR: During these meetings, 713 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:06,250 Bush describes what he wants from a running mate. 714 00:34:06,250 --> 00:34:08,333 He knew what he wanted and what he was looking for 715 00:34:08,333 --> 00:34:10,791 and that was somebody who could be a part of the team 716 00:34:10,791 --> 00:34:12,500 to help him govern. 717 00:34:12,500 --> 00:34:15,416 GELLMAN: I can't tell you for sure when he started seeing 718 00:34:15,416 --> 00:34:17,000 a vice president in the mirror, 719 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:19,583 but one of the key things that Cheney did 720 00:34:19,583 --> 00:34:23,166 was to tell Bush stories about problems 721 00:34:23,166 --> 00:34:26,000 between presidents and vice presidents. 722 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,000 And the key feature that he described was a conflict 723 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,958 involving the ambition of the number two guy. 724 00:34:32,958 --> 00:34:36,750 He painted a portrait of ambition as sort of 725 00:34:36,750 --> 00:34:38,541 latent disloyalty. 726 00:34:38,541 --> 00:34:40,166 If you get a guy who wants the job, 727 00:34:40,166 --> 00:34:43,166 he's already halfway disqualified. 728 00:34:43,166 --> 00:34:44,916 And at the same time Cheney is telling Bush, 729 00:34:44,916 --> 00:34:47,208 "No, I don't want it." 730 00:34:47,208 --> 00:34:50,708 Uh, the more he runs away, the more Bush is pursuing him. 731 00:34:50,708 --> 00:34:53,875 CHENEY: We got all through, we ended up down in Texas. 732 00:34:53,875 --> 00:34:56,083 We'd evaluated everybody, 733 00:34:56,083 --> 00:34:57,916 we'd reviewed all the candidates. 734 00:34:57,916 --> 00:34:59,541 He looked up at me, he said, 735 00:34:59,541 --> 00:35:01,583 "You're the solution to my problem." 736 00:35:01,583 --> 00:35:04,375 The reason I finally said yes was because I was convinced 737 00:35:04,375 --> 00:35:08,875 he was deadly serious about it being a consequential position. 738 00:35:08,875 --> 00:35:12,291 I, uh, took him seriously in terms of the reasons why 739 00:35:12,291 --> 00:35:14,041 he said I was the guy he wanted, 740 00:35:14,041 --> 00:35:17,250 my background in national security and defense. 741 00:35:17,250 --> 00:35:19,750 There was no piece of paper at all, but that he'd make certain 742 00:35:19,750 --> 00:35:24,666 that I played a significant role in his administration. 743 00:35:24,666 --> 00:35:27,375 GELLMAN: Cheney did not submit himself to the vetting, 744 00:35:27,375 --> 00:35:30,333 he did not produce business records from Halliburton. 745 00:35:30,333 --> 00:35:34,458 He gave a substantial set of financial documents 746 00:35:34,458 --> 00:35:36,416 for vetting, and he gave them to George Bush 747 00:35:36,416 --> 00:35:38,416 and George Bush only. 748 00:35:38,416 --> 00:35:41,250 NARRATOR: Cheney has amassed a long history of cardiac problems. 749 00:35:41,250 --> 00:35:43,208 He has suffered three heart attacks, 750 00:35:43,208 --> 00:35:45,750 his first one at age 37. 751 00:35:45,750 --> 00:35:47,208 But he does not provide Bush 752 00:35:47,208 --> 00:35:49,250 with a thorough medical evaluation. 753 00:35:49,250 --> 00:35:51,375 CHENEY: I'd been through several crises, 754 00:35:51,375 --> 00:35:53,208 we'd managed each one. 755 00:35:53,208 --> 00:35:56,250 I'd adjusted to the fact that I was mortal. 756 00:35:56,250 --> 00:35:59,583 I'd sort of pursued a policy when I had a problem, 757 00:35:59,583 --> 00:36:03,208 another heart attack or crisis of some kind, um, 758 00:36:03,208 --> 00:36:05,625 you go do what you gotta do to fix it, 759 00:36:05,625 --> 00:36:07,916 get the best help and advice you can, 760 00:36:07,916 --> 00:36:09,208 and then you get on with life. 761 00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:11,500 GELLMAN: George Bush, he calls his Dad 762 00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:13,708 and says, "I'm thinking about this guy, what do you think 763 00:36:13,708 --> 00:36:15,291 about his health?" 764 00:36:15,291 --> 00:36:17,458 His father advises him to get a second opinion. 765 00:36:17,458 --> 00:36:20,125 George Bush calls up a guy named Denton Cooley, 766 00:36:20,125 --> 00:36:22,333 he's a well-known heart surgeon in Houston. 767 00:36:22,333 --> 00:36:23,833 He says, "I'd like you to give 768 00:36:23,833 --> 00:36:25,625 a second opinion, let's see what you think 769 00:36:25,625 --> 00:36:27,041 of Cheney's heart health." 770 00:36:27,041 --> 00:36:28,666 Well, Cooley gets on the phone 771 00:36:28,666 --> 00:36:30,291 and talks to Cheney's own doctor. 772 00:36:30,291 --> 00:36:33,958 He did not actually meet Cheney. 773 00:36:33,958 --> 00:36:36,250 He did not see any of his paper records. 774 00:36:36,250 --> 00:36:39,125 Uh, and actually, since he's a surgeon, 775 00:36:39,125 --> 00:36:41,833 he wasn't the right guy to ask in the first place. 776 00:36:41,833 --> 00:36:43,625 Should have been a medical cardiologist 777 00:36:43,625 --> 00:36:45,458 who reviewed those files. 778 00:36:45,458 --> 00:36:48,083 ANNOUNCER: Please welcome the Governor and Mrs. Bush 779 00:36:48,083 --> 00:36:50,750 and Secretary and Mrs. Cheney. 780 00:36:50,750 --> 00:36:53,666 [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] 781 00:36:55,500 --> 00:36:57,875 I believe you're looking at the next vice president 782 00:36:57,875 --> 00:37:01,333 of the United States. 783 00:37:01,333 --> 00:37:03,791 NARRATOR: Bush's selection of Cheney as his running mate 784 00:37:03,791 --> 00:37:05,750 immediately changes public perceptions 785 00:37:05,750 --> 00:37:07,500 of the presidential candidate. 786 00:37:07,500 --> 00:37:10,333 VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Cheney was not a flashy candidate, 787 00:37:10,333 --> 00:37:13,166 but yet he was experienced and as a senior statesman 788 00:37:13,166 --> 00:37:16,000 he would add gravitas to the ticket. 789 00:37:18,500 --> 00:37:22,625 ANNOUNCER: Decision 2000, election month. 790 00:37:22,625 --> 00:37:25,333 All eyes on Florida at this hour, Tim. 791 00:37:28,083 --> 00:37:29,375 NARRATOR: On election night, 792 00:37:29,375 --> 00:37:32,041 Bush and Cheney are on the brink of victory. 793 00:37:32,041 --> 00:37:36,416 CHENEY: Election night was sort of the ultimate contest 794 00:37:36,416 --> 00:37:38,875 in terms of probably being the closest election 795 00:37:38,875 --> 00:37:40,833 in American history. 796 00:37:40,833 --> 00:37:44,541 NEWS ANCHOR 1: Here we are at 99 percent of the vote in. 797 00:37:44,541 --> 00:37:46,916 NEWS ANCHOR 2: 11... That means automatic recount. 798 00:37:46,916 --> 00:37:48,708 NEWS ANCHOR 1: Yeah. 799 00:37:48,708 --> 00:37:51,375 That isn't under, no. 800 00:37:51,375 --> 00:37:53,458 Well, I'm seeing nothing on these. 801 00:37:53,458 --> 00:37:56,000 It's... It's slightly detached. 802 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:57,791 CHENEY: They kept recounting, 803 00:37:57,791 --> 00:37:59,541 but every time they recounted we still won. 804 00:37:59,541 --> 00:38:02,500 Ultimately it got into the courts. 805 00:38:02,500 --> 00:38:04,958 NARRATOR: While the legal battles and the recount drag on, 806 00:38:04,958 --> 00:38:06,375 Cheney takes action. 807 00:38:06,375 --> 00:38:09,000 CHENEY: We finally went back to Washington 808 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:10,791 and we announced that I was gonna be in charge 809 00:38:10,791 --> 00:38:12,125 of the transition. 810 00:38:12,125 --> 00:38:14,416 CROWD: Let us in! Let us in! 811 00:38:14,416 --> 00:38:16,166 JO BECKER: We will all remember these times 812 00:38:16,166 --> 00:38:18,750 as some of the most critical and defining moments 813 00:38:18,750 --> 00:38:20,208 in our nation's history. 814 00:38:20,208 --> 00:38:22,875 During the deadlocked 2000 election, 815 00:38:22,875 --> 00:38:24,916 one would think that Vice President Cheney 816 00:38:24,916 --> 00:38:26,500 would be glued to the television 817 00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:30,208 because there were literally developments every day. 818 00:38:30,208 --> 00:38:33,500 Instead, actually, he was at his home in Virginia 819 00:38:33,500 --> 00:38:36,583 and what he was doing was putting together the government 820 00:38:36,583 --> 00:38:41,125 in the event that the recount turned out in their favor. 821 00:38:41,125 --> 00:38:45,166 It's not only unusual that Cheney ran this transition, 822 00:38:45,166 --> 00:38:46,583 it's unprecedented. 823 00:38:46,583 --> 00:38:50,250 Vice presidents, they don't run things. 824 00:38:50,250 --> 00:38:53,166 CHENEY: One of your most important responsibilities 825 00:38:53,166 --> 00:38:55,916 is to put together a government, to pick really good people. 826 00:38:55,916 --> 00:38:59,041 An awful lot of presidents find that very difficult to do. 827 00:38:59,041 --> 00:39:00,791 And government's so big, and they've got 828 00:39:00,791 --> 00:39:03,458 so many relationships, that they, um, 829 00:39:03,458 --> 00:39:05,708 sometimes they like to hang on to old relationships 830 00:39:05,708 --> 00:39:07,125 that are no longer relevant. 831 00:39:09,791 --> 00:39:12,875 GELLMAN: George Bush is very limited in his Washington experience. 832 00:39:12,875 --> 00:39:15,083 He doesn't know the kinds of people 833 00:39:15,083 --> 00:39:18,083 who are going to fill jobs like Office of Legal Counsel. 834 00:39:18,083 --> 00:39:19,791 Cheney knows those people. 835 00:39:19,791 --> 00:39:23,875 Most of the friends of George did not make the cut. 836 00:39:23,875 --> 00:39:26,833 Cheney didn't say to Bush, "You can't have that," 837 00:39:26,833 --> 00:39:30,708 it's just that he started bringing him other people. 838 00:39:30,708 --> 00:39:33,125 NARRATOR: Cheney names Scooter Libby, his former aide 839 00:39:33,125 --> 00:39:36,125 at the Defense Department, as his Chief of Staff. 840 00:39:36,125 --> 00:39:38,791 GELLMAN: He shares Cheney's philosophy. 841 00:39:38,791 --> 00:39:42,041 He is able to cut to the heart of issues. 842 00:39:42,041 --> 00:39:44,833 He is sometimes described as Cheney's Cheney. 843 00:39:44,833 --> 00:39:47,791 NARRATOR: Cheney taps David Addington, who has worked with him 844 00:39:47,791 --> 00:39:49,958 since the Iran Contra investigation, 845 00:39:49,958 --> 00:39:51,375 as his legal counsel. 846 00:39:51,375 --> 00:39:53,166 ADDINGTON: Having worked with him before, 847 00:39:53,166 --> 00:39:55,583 he could be confident in my abilities, 848 00:39:55,583 --> 00:39:58,000 and importantly with Dick Cheney, my discretion. 849 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:01,958 NARRATOR: And Cheney persuades his mentor and dear friend Donald Rumsfeld 850 00:40:01,958 --> 00:40:05,000 to take the job of Secretary of Defense. 851 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,916 It was a surprise, no one was more surprised 852 00:40:07,916 --> 00:40:10,958 than Don Rumsfeld that he ended up back in government 853 00:40:10,958 --> 00:40:13,541 and at that advanced age. 854 00:40:13,541 --> 00:40:15,291 CHENEY: We'd kept up over the years 855 00:40:15,291 --> 00:40:18,458 and when it was time to pick a Secretary of Defense, 856 00:40:18,458 --> 00:40:21,500 I was convinced Rumsfeld was the...the right guy. 857 00:40:21,500 --> 00:40:24,625 DEFRANK: The protege became, in effect, 858 00:40:24,625 --> 00:40:27,583 the mentor to the mentor. 859 00:40:27,583 --> 00:40:30,000 GELLMAN: He doesn't stop there, he goes to the deputies, 860 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:31,666 he goes to the assistant secretaries, 861 00:40:31,666 --> 00:40:33,750 he goes three, four levels down. 862 00:40:33,750 --> 00:40:36,333 BECKER: There were people in the Interior department 863 00:40:36,333 --> 00:40:38,875 at sort of these more mid-level kind of jobs. 864 00:40:38,875 --> 00:40:41,625 MASSIMO CALABRESI: It made him very influential and powerful 865 00:40:41,625 --> 00:40:43,208 throughout the bureaucracy, 866 00:40:43,208 --> 00:40:45,583 in particular when decisions came to the level 867 00:40:45,583 --> 00:40:47,208 of the president. 868 00:40:47,208 --> 00:40:49,375 SUSKIND: Did George W. Bush know what he was getting? 869 00:40:49,375 --> 00:40:52,375 How thoroughly overmatched he was 870 00:40:52,375 --> 00:40:55,500 by the team that was assembled around him? 871 00:40:55,500 --> 00:40:58,166 PETER JENNINGS: Good evening. I'll make it quick and simple, 872 00:40:58,166 --> 00:40:59,750 the Supreme Court of the United States 873 00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:02,791 has reversed the decision of the Florida Supreme Court. 874 00:41:02,791 --> 00:41:04,708 This effectively ends the election. 875 00:41:04,708 --> 00:41:06,458 It has ended the election and literally... 876 00:41:06,458 --> 00:41:08,333 NARRATOR: Six weeks after the election, 877 00:41:08,333 --> 00:41:11,666 the Supreme Court puts an end to the recount in Florida. 878 00:41:11,666 --> 00:41:13,916 Bush and Cheney win. 879 00:41:13,916 --> 00:41:16,333 CHENEY: There were a lot of people who didn't like the outcome. 880 00:41:16,333 --> 00:41:18,416 Gore had won the popular vote, 881 00:41:18,416 --> 00:41:20,333 but we'd won the Electoral College, 882 00:41:20,333 --> 00:41:23,500 and, uh, that's what the Constitution provides for. 883 00:41:25,916 --> 00:41:28,750 INTERVIEWER: So do you remember walking into the White House 884 00:41:28,750 --> 00:41:32,916 as vice president on January 20th, 2001? 885 00:41:32,916 --> 00:41:34,583 I do. 886 00:41:34,583 --> 00:41:37,625 When I'd first arrived there back in 1968, 887 00:41:37,625 --> 00:41:40,458 I was one of the youngest people in the West Wing, 888 00:41:40,458 --> 00:41:43,625 and this time around I was the oldest. 889 00:41:43,625 --> 00:41:46,708 BECKER: When the vice president first came in, 890 00:41:46,708 --> 00:41:49,458 they were sort of contemplating what role would he take, 891 00:41:49,458 --> 00:41:51,208 and they were sort of, well, you know 892 00:41:51,208 --> 00:41:53,958 Vice President Gore had a specific kind of portfolio 893 00:41:53,958 --> 00:41:57,458 involving government innovation and some other things. 894 00:41:57,458 --> 00:42:01,208 Cheney was not particularly warm to that kind of idea. 895 00:42:01,208 --> 00:42:03,458 He had the, the "Walk-In Rights" 896 00:42:03,458 --> 00:42:05,583 you might call them, he could walk into any project, 897 00:42:05,583 --> 00:42:08,416 any meeting, and do whatever he wanted. 898 00:42:08,416 --> 00:42:11,666 BECKER: If you are a vice president who is able to sit in 899 00:42:11,666 --> 00:42:14,708 on every meeting in all of the kind of lead-up 900 00:42:14,708 --> 00:42:16,208 when that policy is shaped, 901 00:42:16,208 --> 00:42:18,625 you know, you're not only the last word, 902 00:42:18,625 --> 00:42:20,958 last piece of advice, but you've also shaped 903 00:42:20,958 --> 00:42:23,541 all of the options that are being presented to him 904 00:42:23,541 --> 00:42:26,166 even before they get to his desk. 905 00:42:26,166 --> 00:42:28,250 He was quite disciplined, though. 906 00:42:28,250 --> 00:42:32,041 He picked what Mary Matalin, one of his advisors called 907 00:42:32,041 --> 00:42:33,375 "The Iron Issues." 908 00:42:33,375 --> 00:42:35,708 The economy, national security, 909 00:42:35,708 --> 00:42:39,333 the core sort of areas any president would care about. 910 00:42:39,333 --> 00:42:42,250 CHENEY: Some would suggest Cheney had his own agenda, 911 00:42:42,250 --> 00:42:45,000 Cheney was getting ready to manipulate the process 912 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:50,000 so he could be president of the United States. Not true. 913 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:52,333 POLICE [YELLING]: Move! Let's go! 914 00:42:52,333 --> 00:42:55,833 [SIRENS] 915 00:42:55,833 --> 00:43:00,125 Move it! Get back! 916 00:43:00,125 --> 00:43:02,208 REPORTER: Let's just get back! 917 00:43:02,208 --> 00:43:05,708 JAMES MANN: On 9-11, it's Cheney who's in charge. 918 00:43:05,708 --> 00:43:08,916 Bush has the humiliating experience of being 919 00:43:08,916 --> 00:43:11,875 in a primary school classroom, 920 00:43:11,875 --> 00:43:14,416 he is physically out of it. 921 00:43:14,416 --> 00:43:16,958 CHENEY: I was thinking about the threat we were faced with, 922 00:43:16,958 --> 00:43:19,875 I was thinking about what we had to do, 923 00:43:19,875 --> 00:43:21,875 on one hand, to preserve 924 00:43:21,875 --> 00:43:23,666 the legitimacy of the government, 925 00:43:23,666 --> 00:43:25,708 to make certain there were successors in line 926 00:43:25,708 --> 00:43:29,541 ready to go if the president and I were taken out. 927 00:43:29,541 --> 00:43:32,583 There was an incoming aircraft from the northwest, 928 00:43:32,583 --> 00:43:35,875 it was after the other three had already struck. 929 00:43:35,875 --> 00:43:38,041 The question you had to ask yourself was, 930 00:43:38,041 --> 00:43:40,375 if we had been able to take out one of those airplanes 931 00:43:40,375 --> 00:43:41,666 headed for the World Trade Center, 932 00:43:41,666 --> 00:43:42,666 would we have done it? 933 00:43:42,666 --> 00:43:46,833 And the answer was absolutely yes. 934 00:43:46,833 --> 00:43:53,333 After I'd given the, uh, order...it was pretty quiet. 935 00:43:53,333 --> 00:43:55,416 Everybody had heard it, 936 00:43:55,416 --> 00:43:59,708 and it obviously was a significant moment. 937 00:43:59,708 --> 00:44:02,625 There was sort of this collective groan in the room, 938 00:44:02,625 --> 00:44:04,791 and...but people who looked over to see him 939 00:44:04,791 --> 00:44:10,416 said he was so controlled and contained. 940 00:44:14,500 --> 00:44:17,375 CHENEY: Later in the afternoon, Lynne and I went out 941 00:44:17,375 --> 00:44:20,791 and got on a helicopter on the south lawn at the White House 942 00:44:20,791 --> 00:44:25,875 and flew off to a secure undisclosed location. 943 00:44:25,875 --> 00:44:29,083 ADDINGTON: The only time that the vice president 944 00:44:29,083 --> 00:44:31,166 has ever flown in a helicopter 945 00:44:31,166 --> 00:44:33,083 off the south lawn of the White House. 946 00:44:33,083 --> 00:44:36,041 Presidents fly off the White House lawn, 947 00:44:36,041 --> 00:44:38,791 vice presidents don't do that. 948 00:44:38,791 --> 00:44:41,541 CHENEY: Everything I'd seen up till that point had been 949 00:44:41,541 --> 00:44:43,666 over television and so forth. 950 00:44:43,666 --> 00:44:45,875 Um, but when you fly over the Pentagon 951 00:44:45,875 --> 00:44:47,541 and there's a big hole in the side of it 952 00:44:47,541 --> 00:44:49,791 and all the signs of the attack, 953 00:44:49,791 --> 00:44:52,458 and it's still smoking from the damage 954 00:44:52,458 --> 00:44:53,791 that was done that morning, 955 00:44:53,791 --> 00:44:56,625 was a dramatic sort of reinforcement 956 00:44:56,625 --> 00:45:00,791 of what we knew was happening. 957 00:45:10,375 --> 00:45:13,875 I started thinking about how we should respond, 958 00:45:13,875 --> 00:45:16,500 how can we bring to bear the power and influence 959 00:45:16,500 --> 00:45:18,708 of the United States to take down 960 00:45:18,708 --> 00:45:22,166 whoever had launched this attack against us. 961 00:45:22,166 --> 00:45:25,000 CHENEY: We all have to work the dark side, if you will, 962 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:26,666 we're going to spend time in the shadows 963 00:45:26,666 --> 00:45:28,333 in the intelligence world. 964 00:45:28,333 --> 00:45:30,000 A lot of what needs to be done here 965 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,000 will have to be done quietly without any discussion, 966 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:35,875 using sources and methods that are available 967 00:45:35,875 --> 00:45:36,958 to our intelligence agencies. 968 00:45:36,958 --> 00:45:38,833 So it's going to be vital for us 969 00:45:38,833 --> 00:45:41,333 to use any means at our disposal, basically, 970 00:45:41,333 --> 00:45:43,291 to, uh, to achieve our objective. 971 00:45:43,291 --> 00:45:50,333 I see 9-11 as a hinge of history for Dick Cheney. 972 00:45:50,333 --> 00:45:53,916 I went to interview him a month after 9-11, 973 00:45:53,916 --> 00:45:57,250 and it was a changed Dick Cheney. 974 00:45:57,250 --> 00:46:01,916 ORNSTEIN: You see an increasing conviction that you cannot 975 00:46:01,916 --> 00:46:05,833 leave decisions that could be existential ones 976 00:46:05,833 --> 00:46:09,791 for the United States in the hands of Congress. 977 00:46:09,791 --> 00:46:11,666 In the face of a threat of this sort, 978 00:46:11,666 --> 00:46:13,875 you couldn't have some of the niceties 979 00:46:13,875 --> 00:46:17,541 or the same boundaries that existed before. 980 00:46:17,541 --> 00:46:19,333 CHENEY: It is a wartime situation, 981 00:46:19,333 --> 00:46:24,375 and it does require tough programs and policies 982 00:46:24,375 --> 00:46:25,791 if you're gonna be successful. 983 00:46:25,791 --> 00:46:27,500 And it was more important to be successful 984 00:46:27,500 --> 00:46:28,875 than it was to be loved. 985 00:46:33,916 --> 00:46:36,916 NARRATOR: Less than a month after 9-11, the U.S. launches attacks 986 00:46:36,916 --> 00:46:39,291 against Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies 987 00:46:39,291 --> 00:46:42,083 in Afghanistan. 988 00:46:42,083 --> 00:46:44,791 CHENEY: We began to capture members of Al Qaeda 989 00:46:44,791 --> 00:46:47,916 with important information. 990 00:46:47,916 --> 00:46:51,333 BECKER: As we began rounding up suspects, 991 00:46:51,333 --> 00:46:53,708 the question was, well, what do we do with them? 992 00:46:53,708 --> 00:46:56,500 We looked at all kinds of options, 993 00:46:56,500 --> 00:47:00,416 and ended up recommending Guantanamo Bay be used. 994 00:47:00,416 --> 00:47:03,166 NARRATOR: The military base at Guantanamo Bay 995 00:47:03,166 --> 00:47:06,791 is entirely on the territory of Cuba, a hostile country. 996 00:47:06,791 --> 00:47:08,833 REPORTER: Why use it, why is it the best place? 997 00:47:08,833 --> 00:47:12,333 I would characterize Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, um, 998 00:47:12,333 --> 00:47:16,333 as the least worst place we could have selected. 999 00:47:16,333 --> 00:47:18,791 CHENEY: We needed some place to hold terrorists, 1000 00:47:18,791 --> 00:47:21,458 we didn't want to bring them to the United States. 1001 00:47:21,458 --> 00:47:22,958 Once they were on U.S. soil, 1002 00:47:22,958 --> 00:47:26,500 they obtained many of the same basic rights 1003 00:47:26,500 --> 00:47:28,750 that American citizens do. 1004 00:47:28,750 --> 00:47:30,958 I think it was March of '03 we actually captured 1005 00:47:30,958 --> 00:47:34,458 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9-11. 1006 00:47:34,458 --> 00:47:40,125 He had a wealth of information if he were willing to share it. 1007 00:47:40,125 --> 00:47:44,041 BECKER: There was a significant amount of consideration about, 1008 00:47:44,041 --> 00:47:47,958 how could we interrogate prisoners in such a way 1009 00:47:47,958 --> 00:47:51,375 as to not run afoul of these Geneva Conventions. 1010 00:47:51,375 --> 00:47:54,791 MOVIE NARRATOR: The Geneva Convention of 1949 1011 00:47:54,791 --> 00:47:58,458 authorizes inspection of camps by neutrals, yet in... 1012 00:47:58,458 --> 00:48:01,083 BECKER: The Geneva Conventions are a protocol 1013 00:48:01,083 --> 00:48:03,583 which specifies how prisoners of war 1014 00:48:03,583 --> 00:48:05,458 should be treated, and most importantly 1015 00:48:05,458 --> 00:48:07,208 it prohibits the cruel 1016 00:48:07,208 --> 00:48:09,666 and inhumane treatment of prisoners, 1017 00:48:09,666 --> 00:48:11,958 and in addition to prohibiting torture. 1018 00:48:11,958 --> 00:48:14,166 NARRATOR: Cheney's attorney, David Addington 1019 00:48:14,166 --> 00:48:16,250 drafts an order stating that these prisoners 1020 00:48:16,250 --> 00:48:18,708 are not subject to the Geneva Conventions. 1021 00:48:18,708 --> 00:48:21,166 CHENEY: The basic proposition here is that somebody 1022 00:48:21,166 --> 00:48:23,791 who conducts a terrorist operation, 1023 00:48:23,791 --> 00:48:25,708 killing thousands of innocent Americans, 1024 00:48:25,708 --> 00:48:28,166 they don't deserve to be treated as a prisoner of war, 1025 00:48:28,166 --> 00:48:31,208 they don't deserve the same guarantees and safeguards 1026 00:48:31,208 --> 00:48:34,541 that would be used, uh, for an American citizen 1027 00:48:34,541 --> 00:48:38,166 going through the normal, uh, judicial process. 1028 00:48:38,166 --> 00:48:41,875 BECKER: His office takes the lead in getting the President 1029 00:48:41,875 --> 00:48:45,125 to essentially sign on to an order in which he says, 1030 00:48:45,125 --> 00:48:48,708 "Well, we will treat prisoners as much possible 1031 00:48:48,708 --> 00:48:51,125 in accordance with the Geneva Conventions." 1032 00:48:51,125 --> 00:48:53,250 Which of course, leaves, you know, 1033 00:48:53,250 --> 00:48:58,583 a huge hole that you can, you know, run a truck through. 1034 00:48:58,583 --> 00:49:00,125 CHENEY: Isolation in the cell, 1035 00:49:00,125 --> 00:49:03,291 or, um...loud music. 1036 00:49:03,291 --> 00:49:06,875 A face slap was allowed, and had to be open-handed. 1037 00:49:06,875 --> 00:49:09,750 Um, you could push him up against a wall, 1038 00:49:09,750 --> 00:49:12,666 there were certain things like that. 1039 00:49:12,666 --> 00:49:15,375 Putting the individual on an incline, 1040 00:49:15,375 --> 00:49:17,250 their head down lower than their feet, 1041 00:49:17,250 --> 00:49:20,625 uh, putting a towel, a towel over their face 1042 00:49:20,625 --> 00:49:24,583 and then pouring water slowly on the towel. 1043 00:49:24,583 --> 00:49:28,708 It creates a sensation of drowning. 1044 00:49:28,708 --> 00:49:30,291 RUMSFELD: We've had successive 1045 00:49:30,291 --> 00:49:33,125 Central Intelligence Agency Directors say that 1046 00:49:33,125 --> 00:49:37,291 the information gained from those interrogations 1047 00:49:37,291 --> 00:49:40,791 produced a major amount of the information 1048 00:49:40,791 --> 00:49:44,708 that we had about Al Qaeda. 1049 00:49:44,708 --> 00:49:48,000 DAVID COLE: When you use these kind of tactics 1050 00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:51,291 against a, an individual, uh, he will talk. 1051 00:49:51,291 --> 00:49:54,666 Whether he'll tell you the truth or not is another matter. 1052 00:49:54,666 --> 00:49:58,083 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed did not reveal any information 1053 00:49:58,083 --> 00:50:00,958 about an operational plot coming to fruition, 1054 00:50:00,958 --> 00:50:03,000 and indeed the CIA Inspector General 1055 00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,166 found that nobody interrogated 1056 00:50:05,166 --> 00:50:07,208 under the enhanced interrogation plans, 1057 00:50:07,208 --> 00:50:09,541 uh, coughed up information that allowed us 1058 00:50:09,541 --> 00:50:12,708 to stop any ticking time bomb. 1059 00:50:12,708 --> 00:50:15,708 CHARLIE SAVAGE: The idea of inflicting suffering on a human being 1060 00:50:15,708 --> 00:50:17,958 in order to force them to speak against their will, 1061 00:50:17,958 --> 00:50:23,125 was before 9-11, uh, an anathema of the United States. 1062 00:50:23,125 --> 00:50:25,208 INTERVIEWER: When you talk about drawing the line, 1063 00:50:25,208 --> 00:50:29,250 uh, you don't consider a prolonged period 1064 00:50:29,250 --> 00:50:31,958 of creating the sensation of drowning, 1065 00:50:31,958 --> 00:50:33,958 you don't consider torture? 1066 00:50:33,958 --> 00:50:36,208 I don't. 1067 00:50:36,208 --> 00:50:38,791 Tell me what terrorist attacks is that you would have 1068 00:50:38,791 --> 00:50:40,625 let go forward, 1069 00:50:40,625 --> 00:50:45,208 because you didn't want to be a mean and nasty fellow. 1070 00:50:45,208 --> 00:50:48,375 Are you gonna trade the lives of a number of people 1071 00:50:48,375 --> 00:50:51,750 because you want to preserve your honor? 1072 00:50:51,750 --> 00:50:54,250 Or are you gonna do your job, 1073 00:50:54,250 --> 00:50:56,500 do what's required, first and foremost, 1074 00:50:56,500 --> 00:51:00,041 your responsibility to safeguard the United States of America 1075 00:51:00,041 --> 00:51:02,250 and the lives of its citizens. 1076 00:51:02,250 --> 00:51:05,250 Now, given a choice between doing what we did, 1077 00:51:05,250 --> 00:51:08,125 or backing off and saying, "Yeah, we know you know 1078 00:51:08,125 --> 00:51:10,333 the next attack against the United States, 1079 00:51:10,333 --> 00:51:13,416 but we're not gonna force you to tell us what it is, 1080 00:51:13,416 --> 00:51:17,791 because it might create a bad image for us." 1081 00:51:17,791 --> 00:51:20,208 That's not a close call for me. 1082 00:51:24,583 --> 00:51:27,833 NARRATOR: Cheney's desire to protect America at all costs 1083 00:51:27,833 --> 00:51:31,041 leads him to formulate a new national security philosophy 1084 00:51:31,041 --> 00:51:34,208 to deal with the threats faced by the United States. 1085 00:51:34,208 --> 00:51:38,208 He says if there's even a one percent chance 1086 00:51:38,208 --> 00:51:40,875 that terrorists have gotten their hands 1087 00:51:40,875 --> 00:51:42,958 on weapons of mass destruction, 1088 00:51:42,958 --> 00:51:45,791 we need to treat it as a certainty. 1089 00:51:45,791 --> 00:51:48,375 CHENEY: 100 percent effective defense 1090 00:51:48,375 --> 00:51:52,375 against further mass casualty attacks by the terrorists, 1091 00:51:52,375 --> 00:51:54,250 by Al Qaeda. 1092 00:51:54,250 --> 00:51:57,041 WOODWARD: He really is the self-appointed examiner 1093 00:51:57,041 --> 00:51:58,916 of worst-case scenarios. 1094 00:51:58,916 --> 00:52:03,000 What could go on that would be so bad, 1095 00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:07,833 that might even make 9-11 a footnote. 1096 00:52:07,833 --> 00:52:10,416 CHENEY: You've got to figure out where the terrorists are, 1097 00:52:10,416 --> 00:52:12,083 what's their base of operations, 1098 00:52:12,083 --> 00:52:14,250 do they have access to that technology, 1099 00:52:14,250 --> 00:52:16,250 how do they have access to that technology, 1100 00:52:16,250 --> 00:52:18,083 is there a state out there, 1101 00:52:18,083 --> 00:52:22,000 a state actor that has some capability in this area, Iraq? 1102 00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:25,666 Uh, that is a potential source for the terrorists. 1103 00:52:25,666 --> 00:52:28,666 MANN: Why was Iraq important to Cheney? 1104 00:52:28,666 --> 00:52:30,750 It's because it was in a strategic location 1105 00:52:30,750 --> 00:52:32,375 in the Middle East. 1106 00:52:32,375 --> 00:52:34,750 The United States had defeated it once before, 1107 00:52:34,750 --> 00:52:36,291 without much difficulty, 1108 00:52:36,291 --> 00:52:40,916 and it was, um, a place where the United States 1109 00:52:40,916 --> 00:52:45,250 could show the region its continuing military power. 1110 00:52:47,583 --> 00:52:50,500 NARRATOR: In his first State of the Union speech after 9-11, 1111 00:52:50,500 --> 00:52:53,541 Bush names Iraq as a new foreign policy priority 1112 00:52:53,541 --> 00:52:54,750 for the United States. 1113 00:52:54,750 --> 00:52:57,708 Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America 1114 00:52:57,708 --> 00:52:59,291 and to support terror. 1115 00:52:59,291 --> 00:53:03,208 States like these and their terrorist allies 1116 00:53:03,208 --> 00:53:07,625 constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace 1117 00:53:07,625 --> 00:53:09,666 of the world, 1118 00:53:09,666 --> 00:53:12,666 by seeking weapons of mass destruction. 1119 00:53:12,666 --> 00:53:14,291 NARRATOR: In the wake of Bush's speech, 1120 00:53:14,291 --> 00:53:16,291 Cheney leads the administration's effort 1121 00:53:16,291 --> 00:53:19,083 to make a case that war with Iraq is justified, 1122 00:53:19,083 --> 00:53:21,625 because of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. 1123 00:53:21,625 --> 00:53:23,541 CHENEY: We know he is, uh, 1124 00:53:23,541 --> 00:53:25,541 working once again on a nuclear program. 1125 00:53:25,541 --> 00:53:28,125 We know they have weapons of mass destruction, 1126 00:53:28,125 --> 00:53:29,958 we know they have active programs. 1127 00:53:29,958 --> 00:53:32,666 There isn't any debate about it. 1128 00:53:32,666 --> 00:53:35,333 Of course by 2002, we got the, uh, 1129 00:53:35,333 --> 00:53:37,500 the National Intelligence Estimate, 1130 00:53:37,500 --> 00:53:39,875 and a whole bunch of reporting that led up to that 1131 00:53:39,875 --> 00:53:41,833 that said he had resumed 1132 00:53:41,833 --> 00:53:43,708 his weapons of mass destruction programs. 1133 00:53:43,708 --> 00:53:46,416 Immediately, the intelligence services, 1134 00:53:46,416 --> 00:53:48,250 especially the CIA, 1135 00:53:48,250 --> 00:53:51,333 say this is a very dangerous model, 1136 00:53:51,333 --> 00:53:53,416 Mr. President, Mr. Vice President. 1137 00:53:53,416 --> 00:53:55,791 A...there may well be no weapons, 1138 00:53:55,791 --> 00:53:59,250 B...if there are weapons, when we invade the country 1139 00:53:59,250 --> 00:54:01,416 it may be impossible to find the weapons. 1140 00:54:01,416 --> 00:54:04,625 To build a case for war on weapons of mass destruction, 1141 00:54:04,625 --> 00:54:07,541 is a dangerous roll of the dice. 1142 00:54:07,541 --> 00:54:09,166 In 1998, 1143 00:54:09,166 --> 00:54:13,166 Bill Clinton ordered strikes on targets inside Iraq, 1144 00:54:13,166 --> 00:54:16,083 um, because he felt Saddam had refused 1145 00:54:16,083 --> 00:54:18,791 to comply with the U.N. Security Council resolutions, 1146 00:54:18,791 --> 00:54:22,875 and in fact come clean on his weapons of mass destruction. 1147 00:54:22,875 --> 00:54:26,708 And the whole intelligence was collected, 1148 00:54:26,708 --> 00:54:28,583 analyzed, and presented, 1149 00:54:28,583 --> 00:54:32,500 before George Bush and I ever got back into the Oval Office. 1150 00:54:32,500 --> 00:54:34,250 They never really had a meeting 1151 00:54:34,250 --> 00:54:37,541 about whether they should attack Iraq. 1152 00:54:37,541 --> 00:54:40,208 It was kind of an incorporated assumption. 1153 00:54:40,208 --> 00:54:42,208 The evidence is overwhelming... 1154 00:54:42,208 --> 00:54:43,666 CORN: He kept getting out there 1155 00:54:43,666 --> 00:54:45,333 on Meet the Press and the other venues, 1156 00:54:45,333 --> 00:54:47,458 but it was all innuendo. 1157 00:54:47,458 --> 00:54:50,541 Who did the anthrax attack last fall, Tim? 1158 00:54:50,541 --> 00:54:51,708 We don't know. 1159 00:54:51,708 --> 00:54:53,125 TIM: Could it have been Saddam? 1160 00:54:53,125 --> 00:54:55,041 I don't know. 1161 00:54:55,041 --> 00:54:59,375 WOODWARD: I really think there was a momentum to war. 1162 00:54:59,375 --> 00:55:01,041 Cheney is saying, 1163 00:55:01,041 --> 00:55:05,750 "We've got to do it, the intelligence is there." 1164 00:55:05,750 --> 00:55:08,583 He had the personnel, he had the technology, 1165 00:55:08,583 --> 00:55:11,458 he had the know-how, he had a lot of the raw material, 1166 00:55:11,458 --> 00:55:14,500 and he had the desire to get back into the business big time. 1167 00:55:14,500 --> 00:55:16,916 REPORTER: He said we have a lot of allies out there, 1168 00:55:16,916 --> 00:55:18,791 but I haven't noticed any of the Arab states 1169 00:55:18,791 --> 00:55:21,416 supporting strong action against Iraq. 1170 00:55:21,416 --> 00:55:23,583 Well, I think, um, I guess the way 1171 00:55:23,583 --> 00:55:25,541 I would characterize it is that they are 1172 00:55:25,541 --> 00:55:30,250 uniformly concerned about the situation in Iraq. 1173 00:55:30,250 --> 00:55:32,750 SUSKIND: Bush is insecure as president. 1174 00:55:32,750 --> 00:55:35,625 Cheney brilliantly exploits this. 1175 00:55:35,625 --> 00:55:38,250 NARRATOR: Cheney points to Iraq's refusal to submit 1176 00:55:38,250 --> 00:55:40,791 to weapons inspections as clear proof 1177 00:55:40,791 --> 00:55:44,625 that Saddam Hussein is hiding weapons of mass destruction. 1178 00:55:44,625 --> 00:55:46,625 But there is another explanation. 1179 00:55:46,625 --> 00:55:50,125 SUSKIND: What Saddam is worried about is that his neighbors, 1180 00:55:50,125 --> 00:55:52,958 and he's got tough neighbors including the Iranians, 1181 00:55:52,958 --> 00:55:56,166 will find out that, that he's a paper tiger, 1182 00:55:56,166 --> 00:55:58,083 that there's nothing here. 1183 00:55:58,083 --> 00:56:00,333 GELLMAN: Cheney was cherry-picking intelligence, 1184 00:56:00,333 --> 00:56:01,625 interpreting intelligence, 1185 00:56:01,625 --> 00:56:03,958 taking this piece and that piece. 1186 00:56:03,958 --> 00:56:06,208 He has been seeking to acquire 1187 00:56:06,208 --> 00:56:08,000 the kinds of tubes that are necessary 1188 00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:10,500 to build a centrifuge. 1189 00:56:10,500 --> 00:56:13,541 WOODWARD: Colin Powell thought Cheney had a fever 1190 00:56:13,541 --> 00:56:15,625 for attacking Iraq. 1191 00:56:15,625 --> 00:56:19,000 Powell concluded Cheney could not, 1192 00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,625 was always twisting intelligence and exaggerating it. 1193 00:56:22,625 --> 00:56:24,833 CHENEY: Our administration is moving forward 1194 00:56:24,833 --> 00:56:28,125 on an agenda to build a safe and prosperous future 1195 00:56:28,125 --> 00:56:29,833 for the American people. 1196 00:56:29,833 --> 00:56:31,958 NARRATOR: In August of 2002, 1197 00:56:31,958 --> 00:56:33,791 Cheney addresses the National Convention 1198 00:56:33,791 --> 00:56:36,208 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. 1199 00:56:36,208 --> 00:56:38,166 He presents his most forceful case yet 1200 00:56:38,166 --> 00:56:40,083 for war against Iraq. 1201 00:56:40,083 --> 00:56:42,750 CHENEY: Armed with an arsenal of these weapons of terror 1202 00:56:42,750 --> 00:56:45,416 and seated atop ten percent of the world's oil reserves, 1203 00:56:45,416 --> 00:56:49,333 Saddam Hussein could then be expected to seek domination 1204 00:56:49,333 --> 00:56:53,166 of the entire Middle East, take control of a great portion 1205 00:56:53,166 --> 00:56:54,750 of the world's energy supplies 1206 00:56:54,750 --> 00:56:58,541 and subject the United States or any other nation 1207 00:56:58,541 --> 00:57:01,375 to nuclear blackmail. 1208 00:57:01,375 --> 00:57:04,333 Simply stated, there is no doubt 1209 00:57:04,333 --> 00:57:07,708 that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction, 1210 00:57:07,708 --> 00:57:10,541 there is no doubt that he is amassing them to use 1211 00:57:10,541 --> 00:57:12,916 against our friends, against our allies, 1212 00:57:12,916 --> 00:57:14,708 and against us. 1213 00:57:14,708 --> 00:57:18,541 There is no basis to discount any of the concerns 1214 00:57:18,541 --> 00:57:20,125 that I am raising this morning. 1215 00:57:23,125 --> 00:57:26,500 NARRATOR: Three weeks after Cheney's speech to the VFW, 1216 00:57:26,500 --> 00:57:30,000 Bush presses Congress to authorize a war. 1217 00:57:30,000 --> 00:57:32,750 Cheney believes that Bush, as Commander-in-Chief, 1218 00:57:32,750 --> 00:57:36,541 does not need to ask Congress for permission to attack Iraq. 1219 00:57:36,541 --> 00:57:39,000 But Bush decides that for political reasons, 1220 00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:41,166 he needs the backing of Congress. 1221 00:57:41,166 --> 00:57:43,500 America's leadership and willingness to use force 1222 00:57:43,500 --> 00:57:46,833 confirmed by the Congress is the best way 1223 00:57:46,833 --> 00:57:50,083 to ensure compliance and avoid conflict. 1224 00:57:50,083 --> 00:57:52,541 We will continue working closely with members of Congress 1225 00:57:52,541 --> 00:57:54,208 on both sides of the aisle 1226 00:57:54,208 --> 00:57:56,583 to build a strong bipartisan resolution. 1227 00:57:56,583 --> 00:57:58,250 GELLMAN: They had to win this vote, 1228 00:57:58,250 --> 00:58:01,666 and there was a key piece on that chessboard. 1229 00:58:01,666 --> 00:58:05,416 As long as he behaves himself within his own borders, 1230 00:58:05,416 --> 00:58:11,375 we should not be addressing any attack of resources against him. 1231 00:58:11,375 --> 00:58:14,416 GELLMAN: Dick Armey, the majority leader in the house, 1232 00:58:14,416 --> 00:58:18,416 a very reliable conservative, 100 percent rating 1233 00:58:18,416 --> 00:58:20,458 from all the conservative groups over the years, 1234 00:58:20,458 --> 00:58:22,750 a good friend of Dick Cheney's over the years. 1235 00:58:22,750 --> 00:58:26,916 ARMEY: Do we sometimes get caught up in wars or conflicts 1236 00:58:26,916 --> 00:58:29,625 over purposes that are in fact not imperative 1237 00:58:29,625 --> 00:58:32,250 to maintaining our freedom and our safety, 1238 00:58:32,250 --> 00:58:34,125 I'm afraid sometimes we do that. 1239 00:58:34,125 --> 00:58:37,166 Dick Armey just didn't see it. This guy Saddam, he said, 1240 00:58:37,166 --> 00:58:39,750 he's a clown, he's unfriendly to the United States, 1241 00:58:39,750 --> 00:58:42,125 he's...terrible to his own people, 1242 00:58:42,125 --> 00:58:44,958 but a threat, a national security threat to us? 1243 00:58:44,958 --> 00:58:48,500 If Armey had voted no, he would have given political cover to 1244 00:58:48,500 --> 00:58:51,125 dozens and dozens of Democrats who also wanted to vote no 1245 00:58:51,125 --> 00:58:52,791 but were afraid to do it. 1246 00:58:52,791 --> 00:58:55,000 JIM MCDERMOTT: This resolution is premature. 1247 00:58:55,000 --> 00:58:58,125 There has been no showing by the Intelligence agencies 1248 00:58:58,125 --> 00:59:01,625 or the White House of imminent danger to the United States. 1249 00:59:01,625 --> 00:59:05,625 Mr. President, this is plain and simple. 1250 00:59:05,625 --> 00:59:09,166 A blank check, given to the President 1251 00:59:09,166 --> 00:59:12,083 of the United States, I won't touch it! 1252 00:59:16,291 --> 00:59:18,500 GELLMAN: Armey's mind will not change, 1253 00:59:18,500 --> 00:59:22,083 and so it comes to Bush's biggest closer, Dick Cheney, 1254 00:59:22,083 --> 00:59:26,333 to go convince his friend Dick Armey. 1255 00:59:26,333 --> 00:59:30,208 Dick Cheney called in Armey to a little office 1256 00:59:30,208 --> 00:59:33,333 he had off the main floor of the Capitol building, 1257 00:59:33,333 --> 00:59:35,000 and he tells Armey a story, 1258 00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:38,791 that Saddam Hussein has made rapid progress 1259 00:59:38,791 --> 00:59:41,125 toward the miniaturization of a nuclear warhead. 1260 00:59:41,125 --> 00:59:42,833 He's talking about... 1261 00:59:42,833 --> 00:59:47,083 the sort of ultimate terrorist threat of a suitcase nuke. 1262 00:59:47,083 --> 00:59:49,875 He also tells him that Saddam and his family 1263 00:59:49,875 --> 00:59:52,708 have had direct personal contacts 1264 00:59:52,708 --> 00:59:55,166 with Osama bin Laden and his people, 1265 00:59:55,166 --> 00:59:56,875 so that there are very close ties. 1266 00:59:56,875 --> 00:59:59,541 He tells Armey, "I'm telling you things 1267 00:59:59,541 --> 01:00:01,541 that are essentially too classified 1268 01:00:01,541 --> 01:00:03,541 or too scary to tell the general public, 1269 01:00:03,541 --> 01:00:06,375 but in fact, the situation's actually worse 1270 01:00:06,375 --> 01:00:07,708 than we've been portraying." 1271 01:00:10,583 --> 01:00:14,458 Almost nothing Cheney told Armey in that conversation was true. 1272 01:00:16,083 --> 01:00:17,666 Armey had a bad feeling about it, 1273 01:00:17,666 --> 01:00:21,166 but here you have the vice president telling him, 1274 01:00:21,166 --> 01:00:24,041 "Saddam has direct ties to Al Qaeda 1275 01:00:24,041 --> 01:00:27,416 and is getting close to building suitcase nukes." 1276 01:00:27,416 --> 01:00:30,708 And at that point, Dick Armey feels that he cannot, 1277 01:00:30,708 --> 01:00:32,750 in good conscience, vote against the war. 1278 01:00:38,833 --> 01:00:43,083 Well, let me begin by thanking you all for coming. 1279 01:00:43,083 --> 01:00:48,375 I'll make a brief statement, and we'll open up for questions. 1280 01:00:48,375 --> 01:00:52,333 I have decided to support President Bush 1281 01:00:52,333 --> 01:00:54,458 and the resolution authorizing the use of force 1282 01:00:54,458 --> 01:00:58,208 to change the current regime in Iraq. 1283 01:00:58,208 --> 01:01:02,500 My decision follows a careful, exhaustive review 1284 01:01:02,500 --> 01:01:05,416 of the facts and evidence against Saddam Hussein. 1285 01:01:05,416 --> 01:01:07,291 REPORTER: What made you change? 1286 01:01:07,291 --> 01:01:09,291 ARMEY: Information. 1287 01:01:09,291 --> 01:01:14,458 The assets that Saddam has 1288 01:01:14,458 --> 01:01:19,208 that can be destructive to people, 1289 01:01:19,208 --> 01:01:21,333 uh, weapons of mass destruction, 1290 01:01:21,333 --> 01:01:25,333 is greater than what I had supposed. The degree... 1291 01:01:25,333 --> 01:01:27,000 NARRATOR: Three days later, 1292 01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:30,250 congress votes on whether to authorize war with Iraq. 1293 01:01:30,250 --> 01:01:32,583 SCHUMER: As we move towards final passage, 1294 01:01:32,583 --> 01:01:34,625 the choice before us is this resolution, 1295 01:01:34,625 --> 01:01:36,958 imperfect as it is, 1296 01:01:36,958 --> 01:01:38,333 or none at all. 1297 01:01:38,333 --> 01:01:41,041 Because I believe it is important for America 1298 01:01:41,041 --> 01:01:44,500 to speak with one voice at this critical moment, 1299 01:01:44,500 --> 01:01:47,500 I will give-- I will vote to give 1300 01:01:47,500 --> 01:01:50,791 the president the authority he needs. 1301 01:01:50,791 --> 01:01:55,166 CORN: I take it on good faith that Dick Cheney 1302 01:01:55,166 --> 01:01:59,125 and George W. Bush cared about protecting America. 1303 01:01:59,125 --> 01:02:00,666 Who wouldn't? 1304 01:02:00,666 --> 01:02:04,166 And that they were concerned and worried, genuinely, 1305 01:02:04,166 --> 01:02:06,125 about threats to America. 1306 01:02:06,125 --> 01:02:09,125 But... 1307 01:02:09,125 --> 01:02:12,541 they rigged the deck. 1308 01:02:12,541 --> 01:02:17,541 I have concluded, after careful and serious consideration, 1309 01:02:17,541 --> 01:02:20,750 that a vote for the resolution best serves the security 1310 01:02:20,750 --> 01:02:22,833 of our nation. 1311 01:02:22,833 --> 01:02:26,666 CORN: When you're in power, you have the ability 1312 01:02:26,666 --> 01:02:30,833 to completely shape the debate, 1313 01:02:30,833 --> 01:02:33,666 particularly when it involves secret information. 1314 01:02:35,000 --> 01:02:39,708 And it's a pretty immense power. 1315 01:02:48,000 --> 01:02:50,500 Mr. President, 1316 01:02:50,500 --> 01:02:56,041 we trust to you the best we have to give. 1317 01:02:56,041 --> 01:03:00,791 Use them well, so they can come home 1318 01:03:00,791 --> 01:03:03,833 and say to our grandchildren, 1319 01:03:03,833 --> 01:03:08,291 "Sleep safely, my baby." 1320 01:03:12,125 --> 01:03:14,250 CORN: Virtually all the Republicans voted for this 1321 01:03:14,250 --> 01:03:19,750 and half of the Democrats in the House and Senate. 1322 01:03:19,750 --> 01:03:22,291 The I's are 77. 1323 01:03:22,291 --> 01:03:24,333 The Nay's are 23. 1324 01:03:26,375 --> 01:03:29,000 The joint resolution is passed. 1325 01:03:31,916 --> 01:03:34,583 You try to do everything you can diplomatically, 1326 01:03:34,583 --> 01:03:36,250 without resort to force. 1327 01:03:36,250 --> 01:03:38,625 But our history is replete with examples where, 1328 01:03:38,625 --> 01:03:41,208 ultimately, we had to use force. 1329 01:03:41,208 --> 01:03:44,833 INTERVIEWER: And the argument that this was a war you wanted? 1330 01:03:46,208 --> 01:03:49,916 Wanted? Why, because liked war? 1331 01:03:49,916 --> 01:03:53,916 [MACHINE GUN FIRE] 1332 01:03:59,250 --> 01:04:00,958 NARRATOR: The opening stage of the war was 1333 01:04:00,958 --> 01:04:03,416 a massive aerial bombardment, designed to produce 1334 01:04:03,416 --> 01:04:06,458 what the pentagon calls "shock and awe." 1335 01:04:06,458 --> 01:04:08,791 [EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE] 1336 01:04:12,708 --> 01:04:16,916 When the ground war begins, the Iraqi army crumbles. 1337 01:04:16,916 --> 01:04:18,916 RUMSFELD: With each passing day, the Iraqi regime 1338 01:04:18,916 --> 01:04:21,750 is losing control over more of the country. 1339 01:04:21,750 --> 01:04:24,833 Coalition forces are closing in on Baghdad. 1340 01:04:24,833 --> 01:04:27,125 SOLDIER: We got a med-evac coming on! 1341 01:04:27,125 --> 01:04:28,541 Get on the roof. 1342 01:04:28,541 --> 01:04:29,791 [INDISTINCT SHOUTING] 1343 01:04:32,958 --> 01:04:34,791 RUMSFELD: Tomorrow will mark three weeks 1344 01:04:34,791 --> 01:04:36,666 since Operation Iraqi Freedom began, 1345 01:04:36,666 --> 01:04:39,833 and the progress has been nothing short of spectacular. 1346 01:04:43,875 --> 01:04:48,166 Today, Saddam Hussein's regime is history. 1347 01:04:48,166 --> 01:04:51,166 [APPLAUSE] 1348 01:04:51,166 --> 01:04:54,166 NARRATOR: Thirty-five years into his political career, 1349 01:04:54,166 --> 01:04:57,083 Cheney has reached the pinnacle of his power. 1350 01:04:57,083 --> 01:04:59,375 He has reasserted the presidential authority. 1351 01:04:59,375 --> 01:05:02,291 His philosophy is now American policy. 1352 01:05:02,291 --> 01:05:03,541 Thank you all. 1353 01:05:03,541 --> 01:05:04,833 [APPLAUSE] 1354 01:05:04,833 --> 01:05:06,375 It's not enough to say, 1355 01:05:06,375 --> 01:05:08,708 as you oftentimes do in the national security arena, 1356 01:05:08,708 --> 01:05:11,000 "There's only a 1 percent chance that's going to happen." 1357 01:05:11,000 --> 01:05:15,000 You can't say, "That'd only cost us 10,000 lives." 1358 01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:16,750 You've got to be prepared to make certain 1359 01:05:16,750 --> 01:05:19,250 they never get through again. 1360 01:05:19,250 --> 01:05:21,875 ANNOUNCER: And he's about to fall... 1361 01:05:21,875 --> 01:05:23,875 NARRATOR: The invasion is complete. 1362 01:05:23,875 --> 01:05:25,875 Saddam has been toppled. 1363 01:05:25,875 --> 01:05:27,875 But, despite the administration's assertion 1364 01:05:27,875 --> 01:05:30,708 that major combat operations had ended, 1365 01:05:30,708 --> 01:05:32,958 the war in Iraq is not over yet. 1366 01:05:32,958 --> 01:05:35,125 [SHOUTING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE] 1367 01:05:37,583 --> 01:05:41,875 There was a level of violence people weren't anticipating. 1368 01:05:45,208 --> 01:05:47,625 NARRATOR: Looting and lawlessness quickly become rampant. 1369 01:05:47,625 --> 01:05:49,333 [SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE] 1370 01:05:49,333 --> 01:05:52,208 U.S. troops are not ordered to intervene. 1371 01:05:52,208 --> 01:05:55,583 Donald Rumsfeld wants to bring them home as soon as possible. 1372 01:05:55,583 --> 01:05:58,916 Many are told they will be home in a month. 1373 01:05:58,916 --> 01:06:01,958 HOOVER: His way of thinking was Iraq is always going to be Iraq. 1374 01:06:01,958 --> 01:06:04,333 You're never going to be able to create 1375 01:06:04,333 --> 01:06:07,208 a stable constitutional government unless you stay there 1376 01:06:07,208 --> 01:06:08,916 physically for 20 years, 1377 01:06:08,916 --> 01:06:10,708 but let's not get tied down there. 1378 01:06:10,708 --> 01:06:12,916 NARRATOR: In the aftermath of the invasion, 1379 01:06:12,916 --> 01:06:15,583 Iraq is under military occupation. 1380 01:06:15,583 --> 01:06:17,625 Governing it is the responsibility 1381 01:06:17,625 --> 01:06:19,583 of the Defense Department. 1382 01:06:19,583 --> 01:06:21,000 Two weeks after 1383 01:06:21,000 --> 01:06:22,750 the administration declares victory, 1384 01:06:22,750 --> 01:06:25,250 50,000 members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party 1385 01:06:25,250 --> 01:06:28,750 are fired from their jobs with Rumsfeld's approval. 1386 01:06:28,750 --> 01:06:31,750 Most are low level civil servants who had nothing to do 1387 01:06:31,750 --> 01:06:33,708 with Saddam's atrocities. 1388 01:06:33,708 --> 01:06:36,791 Without them, Iraq has no functioning government. 1389 01:06:36,791 --> 01:06:38,458 RUMSFELD: We expected that... 1390 01:06:38,458 --> 01:06:40,583 once you took away that top layer of leadership, 1391 01:06:40,583 --> 01:06:42,583 that the professional bureaucracy underneath 1392 01:06:42,583 --> 01:06:44,333 could carry on. 1393 01:06:44,333 --> 01:06:46,125 Um, that didn't happen. 1394 01:06:47,875 --> 01:06:52,000 NARRATOR: Seven days later, the Iraqi army is disbanded. 1395 01:06:52,000 --> 01:06:55,166 General Tommy Franks, who leads the U.S. forces in Iraq, 1396 01:06:55,166 --> 01:06:56,958 has been planning to use the Iraqi army 1397 01:06:56,958 --> 01:06:59,750 to help provide security. 1398 01:06:59,750 --> 01:07:02,750 Instead, the ex-soldiers and fired bureaucrats 1399 01:07:02,750 --> 01:07:06,666 form the nucleus of an anti-American insurgency. 1400 01:07:06,666 --> 01:07:09,291 The attacks begin three days after the dismissal 1401 01:07:09,291 --> 01:07:10,625 of the Iraqi army. 1402 01:07:12,708 --> 01:07:15,625 SOLDIER: Whoa, holy shit! 1403 01:07:16,500 --> 01:07:18,625 SOLDIER: Oh, fuck. 1404 01:07:20,791 --> 01:07:23,291 SOLDIER: Holy fuck. 1405 01:07:28,541 --> 01:07:31,541 NARRATOR: As the situation in Iraq begins to deteriorate, 1406 01:07:31,541 --> 01:07:33,458 the administration faces questions 1407 01:07:33,458 --> 01:07:36,333 about the intelligence it used to justify the war. 1408 01:07:38,625 --> 01:07:41,166 In the days before the Iraq war began, 1409 01:07:41,166 --> 01:07:43,708 President Bush had presented his final and best case 1410 01:07:43,708 --> 01:07:46,666 against Iraq in his State of the Union address. 1411 01:07:46,666 --> 01:07:48,375 He had made a claim 1412 01:07:48,375 --> 01:07:50,291 about Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions 1413 01:07:50,291 --> 01:07:53,541 that later became known as "The 16 Words." 1414 01:07:53,541 --> 01:07:55,916 The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein 1415 01:07:55,916 --> 01:07:58,125 recently sought significant quantities 1416 01:07:58,125 --> 01:08:00,833 of uranium from Africa. 1417 01:08:00,833 --> 01:08:05,291 NARRATOR: The origin of "The 16 Words" dated back to late 2001. 1418 01:08:05,291 --> 01:08:07,333 The U.S. had received a report 1419 01:08:07,333 --> 01:08:10,125 that Iraq had bought raw uranium, known as yellow cake, 1420 01:08:10,125 --> 01:08:12,583 from the African country of Niger. 1421 01:08:12,583 --> 01:08:14,666 If properly treated, yellow cake could be used 1422 01:08:14,666 --> 01:08:16,708 in a nuclear weapon. 1423 01:08:16,708 --> 01:08:20,250 The CIA and other intelligence agencies had quickly dismissed 1424 01:08:20,250 --> 01:08:23,417 the claim, which had been based on forged documents. 1425 01:08:23,417 --> 01:08:25,332 CORN: There was a fellow in the State Department 1426 01:08:25,332 --> 01:08:27,542 who looked at these and immediately said, 1427 01:08:27,542 --> 01:08:29,375 "There's nothing to this." 1428 01:08:29,375 --> 01:08:32,082 NARRATOR: But Cheney had learned of the yellow cake report, 1429 01:08:32,082 --> 01:08:35,207 and he had asked the CIA for more information. 1430 01:08:35,207 --> 01:08:37,917 The e CIA had then asked Joe Wilson, 1431 01:08:37,917 --> 01:08:41,375 the former U.S. ambassador to Niger, to investigate. 1432 01:08:41,375 --> 01:08:46,250 Wilson was sent over there to check to see about reports 1433 01:08:46,250 --> 01:08:50,417 that the Iraqis were seeking uranium from Niger. 1434 01:08:50,417 --> 01:08:52,917 CORN: He knew officials in the government 1435 01:08:52,917 --> 01:08:56,375 and thought he could go and talk to people and suss it out. 1436 01:08:56,375 --> 01:09:00,125 NARRATOR: Ambassador Wilson told the CIA he had found no evidence 1437 01:09:00,125 --> 01:09:01,667 confirming the report. 1438 01:09:01,667 --> 01:09:03,625 The only thing Wilson had uncovered was 1439 01:09:03,625 --> 01:09:06,708 one brief conversation between an Iraqi official 1440 01:09:06,708 --> 01:09:09,291 and a former Nigerian prime minister. 1441 01:09:09,291 --> 01:09:11,917 The former prime minister had, in fact, been approached 1442 01:09:11,917 --> 01:09:15,291 by an Iraqi delegation in 1999 wanting 1443 01:09:15,291 --> 01:09:19,625 to establish better communications 1444 01:09:19,625 --> 01:09:22,750 and commercial relations with Niger. 1445 01:09:22,750 --> 01:09:27,875 Now, the only thing Niger had to export was uranium and goats. 1446 01:09:27,875 --> 01:09:30,250 And Iraqis had plenty of goats. 1447 01:09:30,250 --> 01:09:32,291 NARRATOR: Seven months after Wilson's trip, 1448 01:09:32,291 --> 01:09:34,792 Britain's MI6 intelligence agency issued 1449 01:09:34,792 --> 01:09:36,958 a public statement saying that Saddam had, in fact, 1450 01:09:36,958 --> 01:09:41,332 tried to buy uranium from Niger. 1451 01:09:41,332 --> 01:09:43,457 Despite Wilson's report and repeated warnings 1452 01:09:43,457 --> 01:09:46,958 from senior CIA officials, the administration decided 1453 01:09:46,958 --> 01:09:50,582 to make the British claim part of its case for war. 1454 01:09:50,582 --> 01:09:54,750 Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, 1455 01:09:54,750 --> 01:09:56,792 members of Congress: 1456 01:09:56,792 --> 01:10:00,792 This year we gather in this chamber, deeply aware 1457 01:10:00,792 --> 01:10:04,500 of decisive days that lie ahead. 1458 01:10:06,625 --> 01:10:09,667 After the invasion of Iraq, Joe Wilson goes public 1459 01:10:09,667 --> 01:10:11,082 in The New York Times. 1460 01:10:11,082 --> 01:10:15,041 WILSON: That information was erroneous, and they knew about it 1461 01:10:15,041 --> 01:10:16,958 well ahead of both the publication 1462 01:10:16,958 --> 01:10:18,291 of the British white paper 1463 01:10:18,291 --> 01:10:20,166 and the president's State of the Union address. 1464 01:10:20,166 --> 01:10:24,958 Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby, they go ballistic. 1465 01:10:24,958 --> 01:10:26,958 I think it was more of a concern in the office 1466 01:10:26,958 --> 01:10:29,207 of the vice president, frankly, than it was elsewhere 1467 01:10:29,207 --> 01:10:30,750 in the White House. 1468 01:10:30,750 --> 01:10:33,250 NARRATOR: Eight days later, Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, 1469 01:10:33,250 --> 01:10:36,000 is named in The Washington Post. 1470 01:10:36,000 --> 01:10:38,792 Plame is an undercover CIA agent. 1471 01:10:38,792 --> 01:10:40,875 Her cover is blown. 1472 01:10:40,875 --> 01:10:42,625 Someone at 1600 Pennsylvania 1473 01:10:42,625 --> 01:10:44,750 may have leaked the classified identity... 1474 01:10:44,750 --> 01:10:48,667 REPORTER 1: The motive for outing the agent may have been revenge... 1475 01:10:48,667 --> 01:10:51,291 REPORTER 2: New York Times reports today an aide learned 1476 01:10:51,291 --> 01:10:53,667 about the identity of a CIA agent from his boss, 1477 01:10:53,667 --> 01:10:55,125 Vice President Dick Cheney. 1478 01:10:55,125 --> 01:10:56,708 Washington is consumed in this, 1479 01:10:56,708 --> 01:10:59,041 something I haven't seen since the Lewinsky scandal. 1480 01:10:59,041 --> 01:11:02,291 People will frequently die from revelations like this. 1481 01:11:02,291 --> 01:11:04,500 I do know that the president of the United States would 1482 01:11:04,500 --> 01:11:06,207 not expect his White House to behave in that way. 1483 01:11:06,207 --> 01:11:08,041 If there's a leak out of my administration, 1484 01:11:08,041 --> 01:11:11,332 I want to know who it is. 1485 01:11:11,332 --> 01:11:14,917 And, uh, if the person has violated law, 1486 01:11:14,917 --> 01:11:16,332 that person will be taken care of. 1487 01:11:16,332 --> 01:11:18,792 NARRATOR: As the scandal grows, 1488 01:11:18,792 --> 01:11:20,833 Deputy Attorney General James Comey appoints 1489 01:11:20,833 --> 01:11:23,375 an independent prosecutor to investigate. 1490 01:11:23,375 --> 01:11:26,166 Effective immediately, the United States Attorney 1491 01:11:26,166 --> 01:11:27,875 for the northern district of Illinois, 1492 01:11:27,875 --> 01:11:31,041 Patrick J. Fitzgerald, will serve as special counsel 1493 01:11:31,041 --> 01:11:32,625 in charge of this matter. 1494 01:11:32,625 --> 01:11:35,417 CHENEY: He knew who the source of the leak was. 1495 01:11:35,417 --> 01:11:37,500 It was Rich Armitage in the State Department, 1496 01:11:37,500 --> 01:11:40,792 Colin Powell's deputy, was the source of the leak. 1497 01:11:40,792 --> 01:11:43,917 NARRATOR: Fitzgerald does not file charges against Armitage, 1498 01:11:43,917 --> 01:11:45,582 Determining that Armitage did not know 1499 01:11:45,582 --> 01:11:47,250 Plame was an undercover agent. 1500 01:11:47,250 --> 01:11:49,667 Fitzgerald then investigates whether 1501 01:11:49,667 --> 01:11:52,500 any other White House staffers leaked Plame's name. 1502 01:11:52,500 --> 01:11:56,250 The special prosecutor zeroed in on my office. 1503 01:11:56,250 --> 01:12:00,500 Libby goes before a grand jury and testifies twice under oath. 1504 01:12:00,500 --> 01:12:02,457 His testimony, and the testimony 1505 01:12:02,457 --> 01:12:04,917 of reporters he spoke to, present conflicting accounts 1506 01:12:04,917 --> 01:12:07,833 of how Plame's name was given to the press. 1507 01:12:10,750 --> 01:12:12,582 Meanwhile, the military's hunt 1508 01:12:12,582 --> 01:12:14,792 for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction 1509 01:12:14,792 --> 01:12:17,250 has turned up no actual weapons. 1510 01:12:17,250 --> 01:12:18,958 CORN: They weren't finding the factories, 1511 01:12:18,958 --> 01:12:22,625 they weren't finding the raw materials, 1512 01:12:22,625 --> 01:12:24,625 they weren't finding the infrastructure... 1513 01:12:24,625 --> 01:12:27,250 I firmly believe that when it's all said and done 1514 01:12:27,250 --> 01:12:30,457 the people of the United States and the world will realize 1515 01:12:30,457 --> 01:12:32,917 that Saddam Hussein had a weapons program. 1516 01:12:32,917 --> 01:12:35,625 Where are the weapons of mass destruction? 1517 01:12:35,625 --> 01:12:37,291 Please tell me. 1518 01:12:37,291 --> 01:12:39,500 The White House obviously was getting quite worried, 1519 01:12:39,500 --> 01:12:41,542 and a whole narrative was developing 1520 01:12:41,542 --> 01:12:44,125 that they had misled the country into the war. 1521 01:12:44,125 --> 01:12:45,833 NARRATOR: Two months after the invasion, 1522 01:12:45,833 --> 01:12:48,750 the CIA forms its own weapons inspection team 1523 01:12:48,750 --> 01:12:51,291 to take over the search from the military. 1524 01:12:51,291 --> 01:12:54,667 David Kay, a widely respected former chief weapons inspector 1525 01:12:54,667 --> 01:12:57,792 for the United Nations, leads the group. 1526 01:12:57,792 --> 01:13:00,041 During an exhaustive eight month search, 1527 01:13:00,041 --> 01:13:01,833 he finds nothing. 1528 01:13:01,833 --> 01:13:03,500 I think everybody in the military, 1529 01:13:03,500 --> 01:13:05,375 certainly in the intelligence community, 1530 01:13:05,375 --> 01:13:08,125 and certainly the members of the Iraq survey group 1531 01:13:08,125 --> 01:13:10,667 would have hoped by now there would have been a breakthrough. 1532 01:13:10,667 --> 01:13:13,250 You just don't make decisions like we do, 1533 01:13:13,250 --> 01:13:17,708 and put our nations youth at risk based upon something 1534 01:13:17,708 --> 01:13:19,708 that appears not to have existed. 1535 01:13:22,667 --> 01:13:26,833 We know that prior to going in, that he had spent time 1536 01:13:26,833 --> 01:13:30,332 and effort acquiring mobile, biological weapons labs. 1537 01:13:30,332 --> 01:13:33,625 We were quite confident he did, in fact, have such a program. 1538 01:13:33,625 --> 01:13:35,667 We found a couple of semi-trailers at this point, 1539 01:13:35,667 --> 01:13:38,833 which we believe were, in fact, part of that program. 1540 01:13:38,833 --> 01:13:41,166 I would deem that conclusive evidence, if you will, 1541 01:13:41,166 --> 01:13:43,375 that he did, in fact, have programs 1542 01:13:43,375 --> 01:13:44,917 for weapons of mass destruction. 1543 01:13:44,917 --> 01:13:48,082 NARRATOR: Six days after Cheney's statement, 1544 01:13:48,082 --> 01:13:50,207 weapons inspector David Kay appears before 1545 01:13:50,207 --> 01:13:52,041 the Senate Armed Services Committee. 1546 01:13:52,041 --> 01:13:54,708 Incredibly enough, administration leaders 1547 01:13:54,708 --> 01:13:58,542 are still saying that we found weapons of mass destruction, 1548 01:13:58,542 --> 01:14:01,875 but today's witness, Dr. David Kay, 1549 01:14:01,875 --> 01:14:05,582 is saying that those two trailers were for producing 1550 01:14:05,582 --> 01:14:10,041 hydrogen for weather balloons or possibly rocket fuel, 1551 01:14:10,041 --> 01:14:12,207 not for biological weapons. 1552 01:14:14,082 --> 01:14:18,833 CHENEY: Now the regime of Saddam Hussein is gone forever, 1553 01:14:18,833 --> 01:14:20,542 and at a safe remove from the danger, 1554 01:14:20,542 --> 01:14:24,082 some are now trying to cast doubt upon the decision 1555 01:14:24,082 --> 01:14:26,291 to liberate Iraq. 1556 01:14:26,291 --> 01:14:28,708 The ability to criticize is one of the great strengths 1557 01:14:28,708 --> 01:14:33,082 of our democracy, but those who do so have an obligation 1558 01:14:33,082 --> 01:14:34,708 to answer this question: 1559 01:14:34,708 --> 01:14:39,917 How could any responsible leader have ignored the Iraqi threat? 1560 01:14:39,917 --> 01:14:42,792 MANN: When the facts run against him, th he tends to come up 1561 01:14:42,792 --> 01:14:46,417 with a new rationale to explain the new facts. 1562 01:14:46,417 --> 01:14:52,457 The rationale changes, but the bottom line doesn't. 1563 01:14:52,457 --> 01:14:54,457 CHENEY: We didn't find stockpiles. 1564 01:14:54,457 --> 01:14:56,250 We did find that he had the capability. 1565 01:14:56,250 --> 01:14:59,207 And we believed he had the intent. 1566 01:14:59,207 --> 01:15:02,958 BUSH: We know Saddam Hussein had the capability 1567 01:15:02,958 --> 01:15:08,250 to produce weapons of mass destruction. 1568 01:15:08,250 --> 01:15:13,667 We know Saddam Hussein had the intent 1569 01:15:13,667 --> 01:15:17,625 to arm his regime with weapons of mass destruction. 1570 01:15:17,625 --> 01:15:21,917 DURBIN: Think of how often Vice President Cheney told us 1571 01:15:21,917 --> 01:15:25,792 that we were in imminent danger from an attack 1572 01:15:25,792 --> 01:15:28,625 from Saddam Hussein because of arsenals 1573 01:15:28,625 --> 01:15:31,291 of chemical and biological weapons 1574 01:15:31,291 --> 01:15:34,875 and the rebuilding of the nuclear weapons in Iraq. 1575 01:15:34,875 --> 01:15:37,457 That was the reason we did it. 1576 01:15:37,457 --> 01:15:40,332 And then we found out that we were duped. 1577 01:15:40,332 --> 01:15:43,792 RUMSFELD: I don't know any more than anyone else knows, 1578 01:15:43,792 --> 01:15:47,582 all I know is that the fact the stockpiles were not found 1579 01:15:47,582 --> 01:15:54,291 and the fact that the administration had, I think, 1580 01:15:54,291 --> 01:15:57,667 unwisely placed so much stock 1581 01:15:57,667 --> 01:16:03,166 in the idea that there were existing stocks, 1582 01:16:03,166 --> 01:16:05,833 it probably would have been wiser in retrospect 1583 01:16:05,833 --> 01:16:11,291 if the White House had focused on the fact that the basis 1584 01:16:11,291 --> 01:16:15,332 for doing what the president decided to do was not rooted 1585 01:16:15,332 --> 01:16:16,833 in a single thing. 1586 01:16:22,750 --> 01:16:26,041 NARRATOR: The dispute over the case for war intensifies 1587 01:16:26,041 --> 01:16:28,958 at the same time as a top-secret spy program comes 1588 01:16:28,958 --> 01:16:32,207 under challenge from within the United States government. 1589 01:16:35,833 --> 01:16:38,000 In the wake of 9-11, Cheney had wanted 1590 01:16:38,000 --> 01:16:39,750 to expand electronic surveillance 1591 01:16:39,750 --> 01:16:42,375 to hunt terrorists inside the United States. 1592 01:16:42,375 --> 01:16:45,082 Cheney and his lawyer, David Addington, 1593 01:16:45,082 --> 01:16:47,500 had helped design a new program that would keep tabs 1594 01:16:47,500 --> 01:16:50,166 on billions of phone calls and emails. 1595 01:16:50,166 --> 01:16:52,750 But existing law said that a special court had 1596 01:16:52,750 --> 01:16:54,582 to issue a warrant for each individual 1597 01:16:54,582 --> 01:16:56,875 the government wanted to monitor. 1598 01:16:56,875 --> 01:16:58,958 CHENEY: Big problem was it didn't allow us 1599 01:16:58,958 --> 01:17:02,166 to get a fast enough turnaround on threats to be able 1600 01:17:02,166 --> 01:17:04,958 to effectively intercept the communications we needed 1601 01:17:04,958 --> 01:17:08,457 to guard against further prospective attack. 1602 01:17:08,457 --> 01:17:11,417 The question then arose, "Should we go to Congress 1603 01:17:11,417 --> 01:17:14,207 and ask them to adjust the law?" 1604 01:17:14,207 --> 01:17:16,250 Dick Cheney was a strong proponent 1605 01:17:16,250 --> 01:17:18,917 of not going to Congress. 1606 01:17:18,917 --> 01:17:21,500 NARRATOR: Cheney knew the Justice Department had the power 1607 01:17:21,500 --> 01:17:24,125 to write a secret memo saying that the administration 1608 01:17:24,125 --> 01:17:28,417 didn't need any warrants for the new widespread spying. 1609 01:17:28,417 --> 01:17:31,250 Justice had been issued the memo. 1610 01:17:31,250 --> 01:17:34,625 From time to time, there may be something so sensitive 1611 01:17:34,625 --> 01:17:39,250 that you don't want to raise the possibility 1612 01:17:39,250 --> 01:17:41,708 that it might be leaked, 1613 01:17:41,708 --> 01:17:46,332 there are some things that need secrecy. 1614 01:17:46,332 --> 01:17:49,082 NARRATOR: The administration now undertook a massive program 1615 01:17:49,082 --> 01:17:51,917 of warrantless surveillance on Americans. 1616 01:17:51,917 --> 01:17:54,833 Addington had taken charge of the paperwork. 1617 01:17:54,833 --> 01:17:56,833 The president had to sign an authorization every 30 1618 01:17:56,833 --> 01:18:00,082 or 45 days, or thereabouts, to keep it going. 1619 01:18:00,082 --> 01:18:03,207 The program would have automatically shut down any time 1620 01:18:03,207 --> 01:18:04,625 that approval wasn't granted. 1621 01:18:09,457 --> 01:18:10,792 It worked. It was a good program. 1622 01:18:10,792 --> 01:18:13,166 I think it saved a lot of lives, 1623 01:18:13,166 --> 01:18:17,375 and did a lot to allow us to thwart prospective attacks 1624 01:18:17,375 --> 01:18:19,417 by Al Qaeda. 1625 01:18:19,417 --> 01:18:21,375 GELLMAN: At the end of 2003, 1626 01:18:21,375 --> 01:18:24,457 two new people arrived at the Justice Department. 1627 01:18:24,457 --> 01:18:26,833 One is Jack Goldsmith, 1628 01:18:26,833 --> 01:18:30,250 who becomes head of the Office of Legal Counsel, 1629 01:18:30,250 --> 01:18:33,291 and there's a new deputy attorney general, Jim Comey. 1630 01:18:33,291 --> 01:18:36,166 Jack Goldsmith starts to look at this thing, 1631 01:18:36,166 --> 01:18:37,417 and the harder he looks at it, 1632 01:18:37,417 --> 01:18:39,625 both the technical side and legal side, 1633 01:18:39,625 --> 01:18:42,332 the more his head starts to hurt. 1634 01:18:42,332 --> 01:18:44,457 SAVAGE: Goldsmith and Comey are conservatives, 1635 01:18:44,457 --> 01:18:46,125 they are Republicans. 1636 01:18:46,125 --> 01:18:50,000 They just simply happened not to be adherent 1637 01:18:50,000 --> 01:18:55,166 to the notion that the president need not obey federal law. 1638 01:18:55,166 --> 01:18:58,792 The president signed up for it, lawyers signed up for it, 1639 01:18:58,792 --> 01:19:02,000 the regional package had been reviewed 1640 01:19:02,000 --> 01:19:04,082 at the appropriate level in the Justice Department, 1641 01:19:04,082 --> 01:19:07,041 and John Ashcroft and others had signed up to it. 1642 01:19:07,041 --> 01:19:10,291 GELLMAN: This debate begins between Justice 1643 01:19:10,291 --> 01:19:12,250 and the Vice President's office, primarily, 1644 01:19:12,250 --> 01:19:14,542 at the end of December, 2003. 1645 01:19:14,542 --> 01:19:17,792 It gets more and more intense in January and February 1646 01:19:17,792 --> 01:19:19,708 and comes to a head in March. 1647 01:19:19,708 --> 01:19:22,457 NARRATOR: Attorney General John Ashcroft must sign off on the program 1648 01:19:22,457 --> 01:19:24,207 for it to continue. 1649 01:19:24,207 --> 01:19:26,291 But he'll only sign if Comey and Goldsmith 1650 01:19:26,291 --> 01:19:28,542 tell him it's okay. 1651 01:19:28,542 --> 01:19:31,875 The deadline to renew the program is drawing closer, 1652 01:19:31,875 --> 01:19:34,917 but Cheney does not tell Bush of the growing resistance 1653 01:19:34,917 --> 01:19:37,542 at the Justice Department. 1654 01:19:37,542 --> 01:19:39,875 One week before the program is due to expire, 1655 01:19:39,875 --> 01:19:41,542 Comey meets with Ashcroft. 1656 01:19:41,542 --> 01:19:45,207 GELLMAN: Comey says, "Boss, we've worked this through every way we can, 1657 01:19:45,207 --> 01:19:46,917 we think this, this and this are illegal. 1658 01:19:46,917 --> 01:19:49,332 We don't think you should sign off on it." 1659 01:19:49,332 --> 01:19:53,125 Ashcroft says, "Okay. Go tell them to make those changes. 1660 01:19:53,125 --> 01:19:55,917 If they don't make those changes, I'm not signing." 1661 01:19:57,582 --> 01:19:59,917 Hours after his conversation with Comey, 1662 01:19:59,917 --> 01:20:02,792 Ashcroft is stricken with acute pancreatitis. 1663 01:20:02,792 --> 01:20:04,750 He is rushed to the hospital 1664 01:20:04,750 --> 01:20:06,291 and hovers on the brink of death. 1665 01:20:06,291 --> 01:20:08,542 CHENEY: He suddenly decided when he was sick, 1666 01:20:08,542 --> 01:20:10,625 that he was going to delegate all this authority 1667 01:20:10,625 --> 01:20:14,375 to Comey and Comey was then the acting attorney general. 1668 01:20:14,375 --> 01:20:16,750 NARRATOR: The next day, Goldsmith tells Addington 1669 01:20:16,750 --> 01:20:19,582 Justice won't recertify the surveillance program. 1670 01:20:19,582 --> 01:20:23,082 It will now expire in five days. 1671 01:20:23,082 --> 01:20:27,166 Three days later, Cheney meets with Comey and Goldsmith. 1672 01:20:27,166 --> 01:20:30,792 ADDINGTON: The chief of staff was there, Vice President Cheney, 1673 01:20:30,792 --> 01:20:34,082 I was there. 1674 01:20:34,082 --> 01:20:38,750 GELLMAN: Cheney says to Comey, "How can you possibly reverse 1675 01:20:38,750 --> 01:20:41,375 the department's course on something this critical 1676 01:20:41,375 --> 01:20:43,125 to the security of the United States." 1677 01:20:43,125 --> 01:20:46,291 Comey looks Cheney right in the eye and says, 1678 01:20:46,291 --> 01:20:49,000 "Just because you really want it, doesn't mean it's legal. 1679 01:20:49,000 --> 01:20:52,166 No lawyer who has looked really hard at this thing 1680 01:20:52,166 --> 01:20:53,792 has said it's okay." 1681 01:20:53,792 --> 01:20:57,750 David Addington pipes up and says, "I did." 1682 01:20:57,750 --> 01:21:02,833 Comey says, "No good lawyer." 1683 01:21:02,833 --> 01:21:05,125 I'd call it tension in the air, yeah. 1684 01:21:07,457 --> 01:21:08,833 ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, 1685 01:21:08,833 --> 01:21:13,000 the president of the United States. 1686 01:21:13,000 --> 01:21:15,833 NARRATOR: In early March, Bush is frequently away 1687 01:21:15,833 --> 01:21:19,457 from Washington, campaigning for reelection. 1688 01:21:19,457 --> 01:21:20,917 The day before the deadline, 1689 01:21:20,917 --> 01:21:22,833 during a brief stop in the capitol, 1690 01:21:22,833 --> 01:21:24,750 Cheney finally tells him that 1691 01:21:24,750 --> 01:21:27,000 the warrantless surveillance program is in danger. 1692 01:21:27,000 --> 01:21:29,332 GELLMAN: Bush is given the impression 1693 01:21:29,332 --> 01:21:32,708 that Ashcroft's been signing all along, but now his deputy 1694 01:21:32,708 --> 01:21:35,500 has got the steering wheel for five minutes and won't do it. 1695 01:21:35,500 --> 01:21:37,625 He doesn't have any idea 1696 01:21:37,625 --> 01:21:40,041 there's been a three-month controversy over this, 1697 01:21:40,041 --> 01:21:44,000 or that there are big, substantive objections. 1698 01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:48,000 NARRATOR: That night, Comey and two-dozen other top lawyers at Justice 1699 01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:50,875 prepare to resign if the administration continues spying 1700 01:21:50,875 --> 01:21:53,000 without warrants. 1701 01:21:53,000 --> 01:21:54,958 It will be the largest resignation 1702 01:21:54,958 --> 01:21:57,750 in the history of the United States government. 1703 01:21:57,750 --> 01:22:01,917 It was Wednesday, March 10, 2004. 1704 01:22:01,917 --> 01:22:04,542 And how do you remember that date so well? 1705 01:22:04,542 --> 01:22:06,082 This was a... 1706 01:22:08,542 --> 01:22:12,375 very memorable period in my life, 1707 01:22:12,375 --> 01:22:15,041 the most difficult time of my entire professional life, 1708 01:22:15,041 --> 01:22:17,875 and that night was probably the most difficult night 1709 01:22:17,875 --> 01:22:20,375 of my professional life. 1710 01:22:20,375 --> 01:22:23,500 NARRATOR: The next day, without telling Bush that mass resignations are 1711 01:22:23,500 --> 01:22:26,125 on the way, Cheney advises the president 1712 01:22:26,125 --> 01:22:28,125 to reauthorize the program without the approval 1713 01:22:28,125 --> 01:22:30,582 of the Department of Justice. 1714 01:22:30,582 --> 01:22:33,958 SAVAGE: The president extended the warrantless surveillance program 1715 01:22:33,958 --> 01:22:36,582 in the face of the new opinion of the Justice Department, 1716 01:22:36,582 --> 01:22:37,875 that it was illegal. 1717 01:22:37,875 --> 01:22:41,500 The program was reauthorized without us, 1718 01:22:41,500 --> 01:22:43,708 without a signature from the Department of Justice 1719 01:22:43,708 --> 01:22:45,582 attesting as to its legality. 1720 01:22:45,582 --> 01:22:49,833 I prepared a letter of resignation intending to resign. 1721 01:22:49,833 --> 01:22:51,917 I couldn't stay if the administration was going 1722 01:22:51,917 --> 01:22:54,041 to engage in conduct that the Department of Justice 1723 01:22:54,041 --> 01:22:55,917 said had no legal basis. 1724 01:22:55,917 --> 01:22:58,207 I simply couldn't stay. 1725 01:22:58,207 --> 01:23:02,082 GELLMAN: George Bush doesn't know what the stakes are. 1726 01:23:02,082 --> 01:23:05,082 You had, for example, the chief of staff 1727 01:23:05,082 --> 01:23:07,457 of Attorney General Ashcroft saying that he's going 1728 01:23:07,457 --> 01:23:09,833 to want to resign too, as soon as he's healthy enough. 1729 01:23:09,833 --> 01:23:12,917 You have the director of the FBI, Bob Mueller, 1730 01:23:12,917 --> 01:23:15,500 saying, "If Justice tells me I can't participate in this, 1731 01:23:15,500 --> 01:23:18,207 I'm not going to, and if you order me to, I'll also resign." 1732 01:23:18,207 --> 01:23:21,958 So the president now has this unprecedented meltdown 1733 01:23:21,958 --> 01:23:23,625 happening at the Department of Justice, 1734 01:23:23,625 --> 01:23:26,125 and he does not know it. Nobody tells him. 1735 01:23:26,125 --> 01:23:29,125 This is March of 2004. Elections coming in November. 1736 01:23:29,125 --> 01:23:31,457 This would have been the end of Bush's presidency, 1737 01:23:31,457 --> 01:23:34,125 he would have been a one-term president. 1738 01:23:34,125 --> 01:23:36,291 So the next morning, they have the morning briefing, 1739 01:23:36,291 --> 01:23:39,291 the regular Friday briefing on the terrorist threat, 1740 01:23:39,291 --> 01:23:41,792 and Condi Rice tells the president, 1741 01:23:41,792 --> 01:23:43,833 "Something's on Jim Comey's mind, he's a good man, 1742 01:23:43,833 --> 01:23:45,917 maybe you ought to check." 1743 01:23:45,917 --> 01:23:48,166 Bush takes him in to his private dining room and he says, 1744 01:23:48,166 --> 01:23:51,958 "What's all this I hear about you not signing? 1745 01:23:51,958 --> 01:23:55,750 How can you possibly, this last minute, late in the game, 1746 01:23:55,750 --> 01:23:57,667 suddenly tell us it's no good?" 1747 01:23:57,667 --> 01:23:59,082 Comey is floored. 1748 01:23:59,082 --> 01:24:01,875 He says to the president, 1749 01:24:01,875 --> 01:24:04,332 "If your staff is telling you that, 1750 01:24:04,332 --> 01:24:06,166 you are being very poorly served." 1751 01:24:06,166 --> 01:24:10,332 Comey was planning on just resigning, but he feels now that 1752 01:24:10,332 --> 01:24:13,375 the president doesn't understand what's happening. 1753 01:24:13,375 --> 01:24:16,500 NARRATOR: Bush tells Comey to change the surveillance program 1754 01:24:16,500 --> 01:24:18,000 and make it legal. 1755 01:24:18,000 --> 01:24:21,582 So what you've just had is, in 24 hours, 1756 01:24:21,582 --> 01:24:25,166 the president of the United States doing a complete 180. 1757 01:24:25,166 --> 01:24:27,125 He had, the day before, signed an order that said, 1758 01:24:27,125 --> 01:24:29,582 "In your face, despite your objections, 1759 01:24:29,582 --> 01:24:33,332 I'm authorizing this thing." The next day, he caves and says, 1760 01:24:33,332 --> 01:24:35,582 "No mas, I will do it the way you say I'm allowed to do it. 1761 01:24:35,582 --> 01:24:39,041 I will stop doing the things you say I can't do." 1762 01:24:39,041 --> 01:24:41,332 That is unprecedented in American history. 1763 01:24:43,082 --> 01:24:45,542 CHENEY: In the end, what ended up happening, 1764 01:24:45,542 --> 01:24:47,708 revisions were made to the program and so forth, 1765 01:24:47,708 --> 01:24:51,500 we had to adjust and adapt, which we did. 1766 01:24:51,500 --> 01:24:54,041 My personal view, well, was different in the sense 1767 01:24:54,041 --> 01:24:57,375 that I basically would have let them resign. 1768 01:24:57,375 --> 01:24:59,958 Because I thought the program was perfectly legitimate, 1769 01:24:59,958 --> 01:25:04,000 it was totally necessary, it had been totally approved, 1770 01:25:04,000 --> 01:25:06,332 and signed up to twenty separate occasions 1771 01:25:06,332 --> 01:25:09,457 by the attorney general of the United States. So-- 1772 01:25:12,457 --> 01:25:14,542 NARRATOR: In his memoir, Bush writes 1773 01:25:14,542 --> 01:25:18,041 "I never wanted to be blindsided like that again." 1774 01:25:18,041 --> 01:25:21,207 GELLMAN: Cheney is an anti-politician. 1775 01:25:21,207 --> 01:25:23,917 But no president can be an anti-politician. 1776 01:25:23,917 --> 01:25:26,041 No president can govern that way. 1777 01:25:26,041 --> 01:25:27,875 CHENEY: If you're a man of principle, 1778 01:25:27,875 --> 01:25:30,250 compromise is a bit of a dirty word. 1779 01:25:30,250 --> 01:25:32,291 President made the decision that he wanted 1780 01:25:32,291 --> 01:25:34,457 to avoid major controversy. 1781 01:25:34,457 --> 01:25:37,582 It was his call. So that's what we did. 1782 01:25:37,582 --> 01:25:38,958 Bush understood that this was 1783 01:25:38,958 --> 01:25:40,792 a mortal threat to his presidency. 1784 01:25:40,792 --> 01:25:42,417 He understood for the first time 1785 01:25:42,417 --> 01:25:45,542 that Cheney had walked him right to the edge of a cliff. 1786 01:25:45,542 --> 01:25:48,082 And it changed their relationship forever. 1787 01:25:49,332 --> 01:25:50,917 NARRATOR: The following month, 1788 01:25:50,917 --> 01:25:52,875 another crisis rocks the administration. 1789 01:25:52,875 --> 01:25:54,917 [♪] 1790 01:25:59,457 --> 01:26:02,625 MALE REPORTER: Americans did this to an Iraqi prisoner. 1791 01:26:02,625 --> 01:26:05,291 NARRATOR: The nation is shocked by photos showing horrific abuses 1792 01:26:05,291 --> 01:26:08,792 by guards at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. 1793 01:26:08,792 --> 01:26:10,250 MALE REPORTER 2: Ever since 9-11, 1794 01:26:10,250 --> 01:26:13,125 the new war on terrorism with its new rules. 1795 01:26:13,125 --> 01:26:15,625 All eyes have been on the United States-- 1796 01:26:15,625 --> 01:26:18,542 FEMALE REPORTER 1: Headlines around the world screamed torture. 1797 01:26:18,542 --> 01:26:21,542 MALE REPORTER 3: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld personally approved 1798 01:26:21,542 --> 01:26:24,125 the use of guard dogs to intimidate prisoners. 1799 01:26:24,125 --> 01:26:26,625 BUSH: I shared a deep disgust, 1800 01:26:26,625 --> 01:26:29,833 those prisoners were treated the way they were treated. 1801 01:26:29,833 --> 01:26:31,166 Everybody knew it was wrong 1802 01:26:31,166 --> 01:26:33,000 and the people involved in doing it-- 1803 01:26:33,000 --> 01:26:35,750 primarily because they lacked adequate supervision. 1804 01:26:35,750 --> 01:26:37,917 Ultimately, were dealt with appropriately 1805 01:26:37,917 --> 01:26:40,332 under the uniform code of military justice. 1806 01:26:40,332 --> 01:26:43,500 SAVAGE: Questions remain about whether what was happening in Abu Ghraib 1807 01:26:43,500 --> 01:26:44,792 was actually official policy. 1808 01:26:44,792 --> 01:26:47,000 Regardless, it shook loose the fact 1809 01:26:47,000 --> 01:26:48,875 that memos have been written 1810 01:26:48,875 --> 01:26:52,582 approving techniques like these in certain circumstances 1811 01:26:52,582 --> 01:26:55,125 and it created a national debate 1812 01:26:55,125 --> 01:26:58,625 about whether the United States was engaged in torture, 1813 01:26:58,625 --> 01:27:00,082 and if so, should it be? 1814 01:27:00,082 --> 01:27:02,250 [INDISTINCT CHATTER] 1815 01:27:02,250 --> 01:27:04,166 BECKER: With Abu Ghraib 1816 01:27:04,166 --> 01:27:06,875 and some of the practices at Gitmo, 1817 01:27:06,875 --> 01:27:12,542 became hugely embarrassing to the administration. 1818 01:27:12,542 --> 01:27:14,332 Who is in charge of the interrogations? 1819 01:27:14,332 --> 01:27:16,332 Did they have authority over the guards 1820 01:27:16,332 --> 01:27:19,166 and what were the instructions that they gave to the guards? 1821 01:27:19,166 --> 01:27:20,500 General Smith, do you want to respond? 1822 01:27:20,500 --> 01:27:23,166 McCAIN: No, Secretary Rumsfeld, in all due respect, 1823 01:27:23,166 --> 01:27:25,457 you've got to answer this question 1824 01:27:25,457 --> 01:27:27,958 and this is a pretty simple straightforward question. 1825 01:27:27,958 --> 01:27:31,417 [♪] 1826 01:27:31,417 --> 01:27:33,833 NARRATOR: Pressure's mounting for Rumsfeld's resignation 1827 01:27:33,833 --> 01:27:36,667 both inside and outside the administration. 1828 01:27:36,667 --> 01:27:39,250 FEMALE REPORTER: There are new calls for Rumsfeld to go. 1829 01:27:39,250 --> 01:27:41,417 Charlie Rangel, Democratic congressman, said: 1830 01:27:41,417 --> 01:27:44,207 "If Rumsfeld does not resign, he should be impeached." 1831 01:27:44,207 --> 01:27:46,667 For the benefit of the United States, for our country, 1832 01:27:46,667 --> 01:27:49,625 I believe Mr. Rumsfeld has to resign. 1833 01:27:49,625 --> 01:27:53,500 NARRATOR: Rumsfeld sends a resignation letter to Bush. 1834 01:27:53,500 --> 01:27:56,000 CHENEY: President looked at making a change in Defense 1835 01:27:56,000 --> 01:27:57,958 and I argued against it. 1836 01:27:57,958 --> 01:27:59,542 Our policies in Iraq were going well 1837 01:27:59,542 --> 01:28:02,417 and I thought we were doing the right thing 1838 01:28:02,417 --> 01:28:05,375 and the strategy that was being pursued 1839 01:28:05,375 --> 01:28:07,457 was the president's strategy. 1840 01:28:07,457 --> 01:28:10,457 NARRATOR: Cheney issues a statement defending Rumsfeld, saying: 1841 01:28:10,457 --> 01:28:13,291 "People should get off his case and let him do his job." 1842 01:28:15,082 --> 01:28:18,417 Cheney convinces Rumsfeld not to resign. 1843 01:28:18,417 --> 01:28:20,582 [CROWD CHEERING] 1844 01:28:25,708 --> 01:28:28,833 BUSH: Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests. 1845 01:28:28,833 --> 01:28:31,875 Libya is dismantling its weapons' programs. 1846 01:28:31,875 --> 01:28:35,332 The army of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom 1847 01:28:35,332 --> 01:28:38,833 and more than three quarters of Al Qaeda's key members 1848 01:28:38,833 --> 01:28:41,500 and associates have been detained or killed. 1849 01:28:41,500 --> 01:28:44,082 [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] 1850 01:28:46,082 --> 01:28:50,041 NARRATOR: Despite the ongoing war and falling approval ratings, 1851 01:28:50,041 --> 01:28:54,250 Bush defeats John Kerry to win re-election in 2004. 1852 01:28:54,250 --> 01:28:56,750 CHENEY: This was an historic election. 1853 01:28:56,750 --> 01:28:58,250 And once again, 1854 01:28:58,250 --> 01:29:00,125 I have delivered the state of Wyoming 1855 01:29:00,125 --> 01:29:02,207 for the Bush-Cheney ticket. 1856 01:29:02,207 --> 01:29:05,125 NARRATOR: The two men shared the stage, for the public celebration 1857 01:29:05,125 --> 01:29:07,000 but behind closed doors, 1858 01:29:07,000 --> 01:29:09,500 the rift is growing between Bush and Cheney. 1859 01:29:09,500 --> 01:29:11,457 ADDINGTON: George Bush's two terms 1860 01:29:11,457 --> 01:29:13,417 were almost two different presidencies. 1861 01:29:13,417 --> 01:29:15,875 The second term was rough on both of them, 1862 01:29:15,875 --> 01:29:17,792 rough on their relationship, 1863 01:29:17,792 --> 01:29:20,792 it was rough on their relationship with the cabinet, 1864 01:29:20,792 --> 01:29:23,875 it was rough on their relationships with their staffs. 1865 01:29:23,875 --> 01:29:26,291 It's not about them, of course, it's about the country. 1866 01:29:26,291 --> 01:29:28,250 But the country was going through two wars 1867 01:29:28,250 --> 01:29:31,457 and having a tough time of it. 1868 01:29:31,457 --> 01:29:33,542 [♪] 1869 01:29:33,542 --> 01:29:35,625 NARRATOR: In 2000, Bush had promised 1870 01:29:35,625 --> 01:29:38,332 to restore honor and integrity to the White House. 1871 01:29:38,332 --> 01:29:41,375 He is frustrated by the ongoing criminal investigation 1872 01:29:41,375 --> 01:29:44,207 of Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby. 1873 01:29:44,207 --> 01:29:46,417 A few hours ago, a federal grand jury, 1874 01:29:46,417 --> 01:29:48,833 sitting in District of Columbia, 1875 01:29:48,833 --> 01:29:51,917 returned a five count indictment against I. Lewis Libby, 1876 01:29:51,917 --> 01:29:53,500 also known as Scooter Libby, 1877 01:29:53,500 --> 01:29:55,500 the vice president's chief of staff. 1878 01:29:55,500 --> 01:29:58,250 NARRATOR: Libby is indicted, not for the leak itself, 1879 01:29:58,250 --> 01:30:00,291 but for lying to investigators. 1880 01:30:00,291 --> 01:30:04,041 CHENEY: Scooter did not leak that information. 1881 01:30:04,041 --> 01:30:06,291 The investigation should have been closed at that point, 1882 01:30:06,291 --> 01:30:07,667 problem solved. 1883 01:30:07,667 --> 01:30:10,500 'Cause that was the issue that they set out to investigate. 1884 01:30:10,500 --> 01:30:13,332 It was a very skillful Washington insider 1885 01:30:13,332 --> 01:30:15,542 that served the vice president pretty well. 1886 01:30:15,542 --> 01:30:17,958 I think that's one of the reason's why people target him. 1887 01:30:17,958 --> 01:30:22,207 CHENEY: Fitzgerald, once he got appointed special prosecutor, 1888 01:30:22,207 --> 01:30:25,000 was determined to try to find somebody in the White House 1889 01:30:25,000 --> 01:30:26,041 that he could nail. 1890 01:30:26,041 --> 01:30:27,917 All he could come up with 1891 01:30:27,917 --> 01:30:30,542 through that whole effort were charges against Scooter. 1892 01:30:30,542 --> 01:30:33,917 That he had misled and obstructed justice. 1893 01:30:33,917 --> 01:30:36,166 NARRATOR: Once the indictment is announced, 1894 01:30:36,166 --> 01:30:40,708 Libby resigns, costing Cheney his most senior aide. 1895 01:30:42,457 --> 01:30:44,500 News reports about the scandal in Cheney's office 1896 01:30:44,500 --> 01:30:47,041 are a constant distraction for President Bush. 1897 01:30:47,041 --> 01:30:50,041 But the news from Iraq is much worse. 1898 01:30:50,041 --> 01:30:52,207 [♪] 1899 01:31:07,332 --> 01:31:12,917 By January 2006, the war has dragged on for almost 3 years. 1900 01:31:12,917 --> 01:31:15,082 CHENEY: We may well have some kind of presence here 1901 01:31:15,082 --> 01:31:16,582 over a period of time, 1902 01:31:16,582 --> 01:31:18,457 but the level of activity that we see today, 1903 01:31:18,457 --> 01:31:20,000 from a military standpoint, 1904 01:31:20,000 --> 01:31:21,750 I think will clearly decline. 1905 01:31:21,750 --> 01:31:25,582 I think they're in the last throes of insurgency. 1906 01:31:25,582 --> 01:31:28,667 NARRATOR: Sectarian strife is rampant. 1907 01:31:28,667 --> 01:31:31,582 Shiite militias murder Sunnis with impunity. 1908 01:31:31,582 --> 01:31:35,542 Al Qaeda in Iraq kill Shiites daily. 1909 01:31:35,542 --> 01:31:38,667 500 Iraqi civilians die that January. 1910 01:31:38,667 --> 01:31:41,582 Insurgent attacks are up to 75 a day. 1911 01:31:41,582 --> 01:31:43,582 [GUNSHOT] 1912 01:31:43,582 --> 01:31:45,166 Sixty two Americans soldiers are killed, 1913 01:31:45,166 --> 01:31:48,457 bringing the total to 2,243. 1914 01:31:48,457 --> 01:31:50,708 [CROWD PROTESTING] 1915 01:31:50,708 --> 01:31:52,291 American troops are now in the middle 1916 01:31:52,291 --> 01:31:54,708 of a full-blown Iraqi civil war. 1917 01:31:54,708 --> 01:31:56,542 MAN: Get back! Get back! 1918 01:31:58,207 --> 01:32:00,041 POWELL: We're not winning. 1919 01:32:00,041 --> 01:32:02,375 So it's grave and deteriorating and we're not winning. 1920 01:32:02,375 --> 01:32:05,291 Um, we are losing. 1921 01:32:05,291 --> 01:32:08,082 This is the time now to start to put in place the kinds 1922 01:32:08,082 --> 01:32:10,917 of strategies that will turn this situation around. 1923 01:32:10,917 --> 01:32:13,708 [♪] 1924 01:32:13,708 --> 01:32:15,582 Rumsfeld and Cheney 1925 01:32:15,582 --> 01:32:18,708 say this war is not going as badly as people say. 1926 01:32:18,708 --> 01:32:21,291 CHENEY: I didn't think it was time for us to be signaling 1927 01:32:21,291 --> 01:32:23,291 a change in policy. 1928 01:32:23,291 --> 01:32:25,792 Stock market's open. The free press is there. 1929 01:32:25,792 --> 01:32:28,375 They've got television, they've got radio, they've got-- 1930 01:32:28,375 --> 01:32:30,417 Schools are open. 1931 01:32:30,417 --> 01:32:33,417 SUSKIND: Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld, they're almost like one person. 1932 01:32:33,417 --> 01:32:35,417 Brothers for decades. 1933 01:32:35,417 --> 01:32:37,542 Men who rise together, 1934 01:32:37,542 --> 01:32:39,582 men who finish each other's sentences. 1935 01:32:39,582 --> 01:32:42,833 HAYES: They've had this long professional relationship, 1936 01:32:42,833 --> 01:32:45,750 but it was also a deeply personal relationship. 1937 01:32:45,750 --> 01:32:49,082 There was a sense that they had sort of an alliance based on 1938 01:32:49,082 --> 01:32:51,917 thirty years of working for one another and friendship. 1939 01:32:51,917 --> 01:32:55,417 HAYES: There's very little evidence that Cheney went to Rumsfeld 1940 01:32:55,417 --> 01:32:58,833 and said, "Don, we've gotta change course." 1941 01:32:58,833 --> 01:33:02,750 So many American soldiers were killed, 1942 01:33:02,750 --> 01:33:04,708 so many Iraqis were killed, 1943 01:33:04,708 --> 01:33:08,667 Cheney should've been all over Rumsfeld on this. 1944 01:33:08,667 --> 01:33:11,041 Went on, not just for months, but for years. 1945 01:33:11,041 --> 01:33:14,000 Bush is losing faith in Rumsfeld 1946 01:33:14,000 --> 01:33:15,750 as a leader for the war. 1947 01:33:15,750 --> 01:33:19,917 He's no longer an effective spokesman for the Pentagon. 1948 01:33:19,917 --> 01:33:23,582 Politically, they're facing Congressional elections. 1949 01:33:23,582 --> 01:33:26,582 It now looks like the Democrats will, in fact, 1950 01:33:26,582 --> 01:33:29,000 win control of the House of Representatives. 1951 01:33:29,000 --> 01:33:32,708 Disapproval of George Bush and disapproval of the Iraq war-- 1952 01:33:32,708 --> 01:33:34,457 I think they were one percentage point apart. 1953 01:33:34,457 --> 01:33:36,332 So this is a referendum. 1954 01:33:36,332 --> 01:33:39,207 [♪] 1955 01:33:39,207 --> 01:33:42,082 Bush admits that we took a thumping 1956 01:33:42,082 --> 01:33:48,708 and he decides to dismiss Donald Rumsfeld. 1957 01:33:48,708 --> 01:33:52,250 WOODWARD: He told Cheney and Cheney said, 1958 01:33:52,250 --> 01:33:54,332 "I don't agree with that decision." 1959 01:33:55,708 --> 01:33:58,750 CHENEY: The president took me aside and said, 1960 01:33:58,750 --> 01:34:00,582 he didn't say, "I'm thinking about it, 1961 01:34:00,582 --> 01:34:04,250 "I'm gonna make a change." He didn't want another debate, 1962 01:34:04,250 --> 01:34:05,792 we had that debate a couple of times. 1963 01:34:08,125 --> 01:34:09,875 President knew how I felt about it, 1964 01:34:09,875 --> 01:34:14,792 and asked me if I wanted to be the one to deliver the news. 1965 01:34:14,792 --> 01:34:17,750 That was easier for him. He didn't have to do it. 1966 01:34:17,750 --> 01:34:21,625 But I also, um-- I was the right guy to do it. 1967 01:34:25,291 --> 01:34:27,667 [♪] 1968 01:34:50,917 --> 01:34:52,917 [AIRPLANE FLYING] 1969 01:34:52,917 --> 01:34:54,833 ANNOUNCER: Good afternoon and welcome 1970 01:34:54,833 --> 01:34:56,457 to today's review in honor 1971 01:34:56,457 --> 01:34:58,291 of Secretary Defense Donald Rumsfeld. 1972 01:34:58,291 --> 01:35:00,166 [BRASS BAND PLAYING] 1973 01:35:10,332 --> 01:35:13,625 CHENEY: My first association with Don Rumsfeld, 1974 01:35:13,625 --> 01:35:16,958 was one of life's great turning points, 1975 01:35:16,958 --> 01:35:19,958 both professionally and personally. 1976 01:35:19,958 --> 01:35:21,708 On the professional side, 1977 01:35:21,708 --> 01:35:24,291 I would not be where I am today 1978 01:35:24,291 --> 01:35:27,082 but for the confidence that Don first placed in me 1979 01:35:27,082 --> 01:35:28,667 those many years ago. 1980 01:35:28,667 --> 01:35:30,375 And on the personal side, 1981 01:35:30,375 --> 01:35:32,875 it's enough to say that I have no better friend 1982 01:35:32,875 --> 01:35:35,332 and ask for none. 1983 01:35:35,332 --> 01:35:37,667 I've never worked harder for a boss 1984 01:35:37,667 --> 01:35:40,582 and I've never learned more from one either. 1985 01:35:40,582 --> 01:35:43,582 I believe the records speak for itself. 1986 01:35:43,582 --> 01:35:46,833 Don Rumsfeld is the finest Secretary of Defense 1987 01:35:46,833 --> 01:35:49,082 this nation has ever had. 1988 01:35:49,082 --> 01:35:51,207 [CROWD APPLAUDING] 1989 01:36:05,041 --> 01:36:07,041 The way the history works, 1990 01:36:07,041 --> 01:36:09,708 you don't get a lot of credit for what didn't happen. 1991 01:36:09,708 --> 01:36:12,125 This is one of those kinds of situations, 1992 01:36:12,125 --> 01:36:14,375 it isn't so much what you achieved 1993 01:36:14,375 --> 01:36:17,625 as is what you prevented. 1994 01:36:17,625 --> 01:36:20,500 How you safeguarded against further attacks 1995 01:36:20,500 --> 01:36:21,917 against the United States. 1996 01:36:21,917 --> 01:36:23,625 I think that's a major accomplishment. 1997 01:36:23,625 --> 01:36:25,457 Please. 1998 01:36:25,457 --> 01:36:27,542 FEMALE REPORTER: Mindful of the frustrations 1999 01:36:27,542 --> 01:36:30,542 that many Americans are expressing to you, 2000 01:36:30,542 --> 01:36:32,708 do you believe you need to make any adjustments 2001 01:36:32,708 --> 01:36:34,082 on how you run the White House? 2002 01:36:34,082 --> 01:36:36,000 Many of your senior staff have been with you 2003 01:36:36,000 --> 01:36:37,207 from the beginning. 2004 01:36:37,207 --> 01:36:39,750 Uh, I've got a-- 2005 01:36:39,750 --> 01:36:42,917 staff of people that have, first of all, 2006 01:36:42,917 --> 01:36:45,708 placed their country above their self interest. 2007 01:36:45,708 --> 01:36:47,667 HANSON: Very popular administration 2008 01:36:47,667 --> 01:36:50,542 that had handled themselves very well after 9-11 2009 01:36:50,542 --> 01:36:55,082 was suddenly becoming unpopular. And it was not just unpopular 2010 01:36:55,082 --> 01:36:57,750 by every three months, but by the day. 2011 01:36:57,750 --> 01:37:00,792 [♪] 2012 01:37:00,792 --> 01:37:03,833 HANSON: Cheney's approach to foreign policy and national security 2013 01:37:03,833 --> 01:37:08,375 put Bush in a position of real danger in terms of his legacy. 2014 01:37:08,375 --> 01:37:11,082 Cheney's influence was somewhat diminished 2015 01:37:11,082 --> 01:37:14,542 and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 2016 01:37:14,542 --> 01:37:16,082 was very, very close to the president. 2017 01:37:16,082 --> 01:37:18,250 It was sort of-- Her influence was ascendant. 2018 01:37:18,250 --> 01:37:20,792 NARRATOR: In the last two years of the administration, 2019 01:37:20,792 --> 01:37:22,582 Cheney remains deeply worried 2020 01:37:22,582 --> 01:37:23,958 that rogue states will spread 2021 01:37:23,958 --> 01:37:26,207 weapons of mass destruction around the world. 2022 01:37:26,207 --> 01:37:29,958 He advocates a hard line against nuclear armed North Korea, 2023 01:37:29,958 --> 01:37:32,291 Rice prefers diplomacy. 2024 01:37:32,291 --> 01:37:34,750 CHENEY: North Korea had tested weapons 2025 01:37:34,750 --> 01:37:36,457 and it was their first nuclear weapons' test. 2026 01:37:36,457 --> 01:37:38,166 It was in the fall of '06. 2027 01:37:38,166 --> 01:37:41,750 Should've been some effective sanctioned imposed 2028 01:37:41,750 --> 01:37:45,417 or some fairly dramatic action taken. 2029 01:37:45,417 --> 01:37:47,667 Condi disagreed. 2030 01:37:47,667 --> 01:37:49,792 NARRATOR: Bush chooses Rice's approach. 2031 01:37:49,792 --> 01:37:54,000 FEMALE REPORTER: Are you concerned that hard liners within the administration 2032 01:37:54,000 --> 01:37:56,708 may undermine your efforts, the State Department's efforts-- 2033 01:37:56,708 --> 01:37:58,332 Well, I think they said the efforts 2034 01:37:58,332 --> 01:38:01,207 of the United States government, the last time I looked. 2035 01:38:01,207 --> 01:38:03,708 NARRATOR: Cheney's concerns about treating North Korea 2036 01:38:03,708 --> 01:38:05,417 too gently are soon realized. 2037 01:38:05,417 --> 01:38:07,250 The administration obtains evidence 2038 01:38:07,250 --> 01:38:09,500 that North Korean scientists are working on a new 2039 01:38:09,500 --> 01:38:12,166 nuclear reactor in Syria. 2040 01:38:12,166 --> 01:38:14,041 The reactor's in the middle of the desert. 2041 01:38:14,041 --> 01:38:16,542 There's no population around at any place. 2042 01:38:16,542 --> 01:38:20,000 They tried to hide it. 2043 01:38:20,000 --> 01:38:22,041 You can't say it's to generate electricity, 2044 01:38:22,041 --> 01:38:24,667 there's no power line coming out of it. 2045 01:38:24,667 --> 01:38:28,000 It's just out there for production of plutonium. 2046 01:38:28,000 --> 01:38:30,500 You don't want Syria to have that capability, 2047 01:38:30,500 --> 01:38:34,582 that they might be able to pass along to Hamas or Hezbollah 2048 01:38:34,582 --> 01:38:36,166 or Al Qaeda. 2049 01:38:36,166 --> 01:38:38,500 [♪] 2050 01:38:38,500 --> 01:38:41,375 When the intelligence agencies 2051 01:38:41,375 --> 01:38:45,125 discovered that Syria was building a reactor that could 2052 01:38:45,125 --> 01:38:49,417 soon make material for nuclear weapons, 2053 01:38:49,417 --> 01:38:52,667 they had policy debates about it. 2054 01:38:52,667 --> 01:38:58,082 CHENEY: Condi recommended taking it to the United Nations. 2055 01:38:58,082 --> 01:39:00,833 I strongly recommended that we ought to take it out. 2056 01:39:00,833 --> 01:39:04,667 WOODWARD: Cheney was just a voice alone 2057 01:39:04,667 --> 01:39:08,500 saying we have to attack and destroy this reactor. 2058 01:39:08,500 --> 01:39:12,582 I thought it would sort of again reassert the kind of authority 2059 01:39:12,582 --> 01:39:16,332 and influence we had back in '03. 2060 01:39:16,332 --> 01:39:18,457 When we took down Saddam Hussein 2061 01:39:18,457 --> 01:39:23,207 and eliminated Iraq as a potential source of WMD. 2062 01:39:23,207 --> 01:39:26,750 There's certain lines out there and you do not cross them. 2063 01:39:26,750 --> 01:39:29,250 And one of those lines is you don't provide nuclear 2064 01:39:29,250 --> 01:39:31,582 technology to terrorist-sponsoring states. 2065 01:39:31,582 --> 01:39:34,082 And Condi was on the wrong side of all those issues. 2066 01:39:34,082 --> 01:39:36,041 So we had significant differences. 2067 01:39:36,041 --> 01:39:38,750 CALABRESI: Cheney was advising again, 2068 01:39:38,750 --> 01:39:43,332 a very robust and in this case, unilateral strike against Syria. 2069 01:39:43,332 --> 01:39:47,166 CHENEY: I argued in front of the group and in front of the president, 2070 01:39:47,166 --> 01:39:49,082 got all through making the case again 2071 01:39:49,082 --> 01:39:50,833 and I thought I was rather eloquent. 2072 01:39:50,833 --> 01:39:55,875 At one point, President Bush literally rolled his eyes. 2073 01:39:55,875 --> 01:39:58,250 CHENEY: The president said, 2074 01:39:58,250 --> 01:40:00,792 "All right, how many people agree with the vice president?" 2075 01:40:00,792 --> 01:40:03,417 And nobody put their hand up. 2076 01:40:05,582 --> 01:40:10,457 WOODWARD: He was isolated and quite irrelevant. 2077 01:40:10,457 --> 01:40:12,291 [♪] 2078 01:40:24,125 --> 01:40:26,625 NARRATOR: In the waning days of the administration, 2079 01:40:26,625 --> 01:40:28,958 Cheney presses Bush one last time 2080 01:40:28,958 --> 01:40:31,917 over what Cheney considers a vitally important issue. 2081 01:40:31,917 --> 01:40:34,041 REPORTER 1: We do have news on 2082 01:40:34,041 --> 01:40:36,750 former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, 2083 01:40:36,750 --> 01:40:39,792 he has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. 2084 01:40:39,792 --> 01:40:43,958 NARRATOR: In 2007, Scooter Libby had been convicted of four felonies 2085 01:40:43,958 --> 01:40:46,125 relating to the Valerie Plame scandal. 2086 01:40:46,125 --> 01:40:48,582 REPORTER 2: Prosecutor Fitzgerald told the court today, 2087 01:40:48,582 --> 01:40:52,667 "Libby's lies created a house of mirrors for investigators." 2088 01:40:52,667 --> 01:40:54,708 And Fitzgerald implored the judge to impose 2089 01:40:54,708 --> 01:40:58,166 a tough sentence to make it clear that truth matters. 2090 01:40:58,166 --> 01:41:04,667 He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, a $250,000 fine. 2091 01:41:04,667 --> 01:41:07,500 He did not want what was going on in his office 2092 01:41:07,500 --> 01:41:11,166 and the vice president's office where he worked to come out. 2093 01:41:11,166 --> 01:41:15,542 So there are a lot of fingers pointing at Dick Cheney. 2094 01:41:15,542 --> 01:41:18,667 The most immediate question for Libby, and therefore for Cheney, 2095 01:41:18,667 --> 01:41:20,667 was whether or not Libby was going to jail. 2096 01:41:20,667 --> 01:41:23,000 CHENEY: The president commuted his sentence 2097 01:41:23,000 --> 01:41:24,833 so he didn't have to go to prison. 2098 01:41:24,833 --> 01:41:26,041 Which, when you think of it, 2099 01:41:26,041 --> 01:41:29,500 is an outrageous proposition anyway. 2100 01:41:29,500 --> 01:41:31,542 But he wasn't pardoned. 2101 01:41:31,542 --> 01:41:34,500 NARRATOR: The end of the administration is swiftly drawing near. 2102 01:41:34,500 --> 01:41:36,708 Before he and Bush leave office, 2103 01:41:36,708 --> 01:41:38,833 Cheney wants a full pardon for Libby. 2104 01:41:38,833 --> 01:41:40,875 [♪] 2105 01:41:43,291 --> 01:41:46,667 CHENEY: I know he got a lot of advice, from inside, from his staff, 2106 01:41:46,667 --> 01:41:48,542 not to do it. 2107 01:41:48,542 --> 01:41:50,625 So I-- I was pretty much alone 2108 01:41:50,625 --> 01:41:52,125 in terms of my recommendation. 2109 01:41:57,332 --> 01:41:58,708 I pushed very hard for a pardon. 2110 01:41:58,708 --> 01:42:01,250 I thought a pardon was appropriate. 2111 01:42:01,250 --> 01:42:03,166 But the president made the decision 2112 01:42:03,166 --> 01:42:05,457 that there weren't going to be any more pardons. 2113 01:42:07,417 --> 01:42:10,958 It stuck with Bush that Libby had not been truthful. 2114 01:42:10,958 --> 01:42:13,250 And that he had gotten the punishment that he deserved. 2115 01:42:13,250 --> 01:42:17,000 Bush was absolutely adamant 2116 01:42:17,000 --> 01:42:20,542 that Libby did not merit pardoning. 2117 01:42:20,542 --> 01:42:26,417 CHENEY: That was-- That struck close to home. 2118 01:42:26,417 --> 01:42:28,082 I felt that we were leaving 2119 01:42:28,082 --> 01:42:31,500 a good man wounded on the battlefield. 2120 01:42:31,500 --> 01:42:38,082 Cheney got right into Bush's face, was very hot about it, 2121 01:42:38,082 --> 01:42:43,792 very insistent that it would be dishonorable and disgraceful 2122 01:42:43,792 --> 01:42:46,166 not to pardon Libby. 2123 01:42:46,166 --> 01:42:49,082 CHENEY: It was a major strain on our relationship. 2124 01:42:49,082 --> 01:42:53,291 Obviously a source of considerable friction. 2125 01:42:53,291 --> 01:42:59,833 And it got so bad, that Bush said to aides, 2126 01:42:59,833 --> 01:43:02,750 "I don't want any more visits by Dick Cheney. 2127 01:43:02,750 --> 01:43:07,125 I don't want to take another phone call from him." 2128 01:43:07,125 --> 01:43:11,375 CHENEY: President had the power to fix it 2129 01:43:11,375 --> 01:43:14,417 and to make it right and he chose not to. 2130 01:43:14,417 --> 01:43:17,166 The relationship between Bush and Cheney 2131 01:43:17,166 --> 01:43:20,958 never recovered. It has yet to recover. 2132 01:43:24,041 --> 01:43:30,291 WOODWARD: Cheney, one of the monumental figures in American politics, 2133 01:43:30,291 --> 01:43:33,000 in the end, did not work as well. 2134 01:43:33,000 --> 01:43:39,000 [CROWD CHEERING] 2135 01:43:39,000 --> 01:43:41,875 I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear, 2136 01:43:41,875 --> 01:43:44,332 That I will execute... 2137 01:43:44,332 --> 01:43:47,332 CHENEY: The last day after we had the inaugural ceremony, 2138 01:43:47,332 --> 01:43:50,750 he and I departed out to Andrew Air Force base. 2139 01:43:50,750 --> 01:43:56,500 ADDINGTON: President Obama was kind enough to allow one last flight 2140 01:43:56,500 --> 01:43:58,833 to take President Bush home to Texas 2141 01:43:58,833 --> 01:44:01,332 and Vice President Cheney home to Wyoming. 2142 01:44:01,332 --> 01:44:04,917 [♪] 2143 01:44:04,917 --> 01:44:09,125 A few of us, not many, flew home to his Wyoming home. 2144 01:44:09,125 --> 01:44:11,375 I escorted him and went in the car, 2145 01:44:11,375 --> 01:44:13,041 and I remember reaching in, 2146 01:44:13,041 --> 01:44:15,000 and shaking his hand and saying, 2147 01:44:15,000 --> 01:44:17,332 "Mr. Vice President, on behalf of a grateful nation, 2148 01:44:17,332 --> 01:44:21,332 thank you for your four years of service to the country." 2149 01:44:21,332 --> 01:44:25,542 And the door closed and he went off to his home. 2150 01:44:25,542 --> 01:44:29,457 That was sort of my last memory of Dick Cheney, serving him. 2151 01:44:32,917 --> 01:44:35,375 [RIVER FLOWING] 2152 01:44:41,041 --> 01:44:43,417 [♪] 2153 01:44:55,207 --> 01:44:57,125 CHENEY: I don't run around thinking, 2154 01:44:57,125 --> 01:44:59,500 "Gee, I wish we'd done this, or I wish we'd done that." 2155 01:44:59,500 --> 01:45:03,375 The world is as you find it, you gotta deal with that. 2156 01:45:03,375 --> 01:45:06,457 And you get one shot, you don't get do-overs. 2157 01:45:06,457 --> 01:45:08,582 So I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. 2158 01:45:10,833 --> 01:45:14,792 I think, because the president wanted it to be 2159 01:45:14,792 --> 01:45:17,708 a consequential vice presidency, it was. 2160 01:45:17,708 --> 01:45:21,750 I think we did a very commendable piece of work. 2161 01:45:21,750 --> 01:45:23,958 Under difficult circumstances, 2162 01:45:23,958 --> 01:45:26,667 with a full understanding it wasn't popular with everybody 2163 01:45:26,667 --> 01:45:29,041 and we were gonna take a lot of incoming fire. 2164 01:45:29,041 --> 01:45:33,000 MAN: For the people who don't like Dick Cheney, 2165 01:45:33,000 --> 01:45:34,917 they're gonna see him as the Darth Vader 2166 01:45:34,917 --> 01:45:37,625 he always was during the Bush administration. 2167 01:45:37,625 --> 01:45:40,958 On the other hand, I think there are a lot of people who see him 2168 01:45:40,958 --> 01:45:45,708 as the leading edge of the Bush administration's efforts 2169 01:45:45,708 --> 01:45:48,291 to insure that there wasn't another large scale attack 2170 01:45:48,291 --> 01:45:50,582 on the United States and for that group, 2171 01:45:50,582 --> 01:45:51,792 they'll be very grateful. 2172 01:45:54,542 --> 01:45:58,457 Cheney is maybe in a Venn diagram of one, 2173 01:45:58,457 --> 01:46:01,750 of people who are geniuses at political power, 2174 01:46:01,750 --> 01:46:05,667 at understanding and acquiring power, and who are zealots. 2175 01:46:05,667 --> 01:46:07,125 If you have someone who is both, 2176 01:46:07,125 --> 01:46:09,457 he's gonna move the needle in history. 2177 01:46:13,917 --> 01:46:16,457 CHENEY: I don't lay awake at night thinking, 2178 01:46:16,457 --> 01:46:18,625 "Gee, what are they gonna say about me now?" 2179 01:46:18,625 --> 01:46:21,291 I didn't worry about it a lot when I was doing it, 2180 01:46:21,291 --> 01:46:25,041 and I thought, the best way to get on 2181 01:46:25,041 --> 01:46:28,500 with my life and my career was to do what I thought was right. 2182 01:46:31,667 --> 01:46:36,166 And I did what I did, it's all on the public record, 2183 01:46:36,166 --> 01:46:39,166 and I feel very good about it. 2184 01:46:43,000 --> 01:46:46,500 If I had to do it over again, I'd do it in a minute.