Vice
Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
The untold story of Dick Cheney: the most powerful yet most unpopular vice president in American history.
Cheney's relentless rise to political prominence over three decades happened almost by stealth. Veteran reporters Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein reveal the disturbing truth about the man who successfully co-opted executive control over the U.S. government, serving as the de facto 'shadow president' in one of the most controversial White House administrations in memory.
With unique access to numerous first-hand sources, this account provides startling revelations concerning the war on terror, Cheney’s relationship with the CIA and his involvement with Enron. Dubose and Bernstein explore Cheney’s ruthless manouevers and ambitious drive that consistently steered America to the right, an impact that can still be felt in American politics today.
Credited by Vanity Fair as one of the key influences behind Adam McKay’s Oscar-nominated film VICE, this utterly gripping exposé chronicles the hijacking of the American presidency and illustrates the arrogance of power as never before.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dubose and Bernstein show in this thorough, rollicking career biography that it's Cheney-not the more publicly criticized Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, Condoleeza Rice or President Bush-who is chiefly responsible for the most unpopular aspects of the Bush regime: an imperial executive office and foreign policy; abandonment of democratic ideals (respect for government checks and balances, the Geneva Convention, the Bill of Rights and the Freedom of Information Act); and questionable corporate-government colusion (the secret energy task force, Halliburton's government contracts in Iraq). Tracing Cheney through three White House adminsitrations, six terms in the House of Representatives, and a tour as Halliburton CEO, the portrait that emerges from these pages is both alarming and compelling; like a J.R. Ewing, Cheney proves to be the kind of fascinating figure you love to hate. As obstacles to Cheney's will-Congress, the Constitution, foreign countries, the press, or other politicians-are sidestepped, ignored, or trammeled, Cheney emerges as a classic Machiavellian; in Cheney's case, it appears that the end which justifies the means is power, pure and simple. Against Cheney, idealistic liberals who believe that an appeal to democratic ideals, the Constitution, or basic decency will work with this administration emerge here as painfully na ve; unfortunately, this realization has only settled in after the damage was already done. Dubose and Bernstein present a sobering and darkly flattering expose of the reclusive power behind the throne, and a grim vision of what his legacy may be.
