About this title: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gellman documents how Vice President Dick Cheney chose to redefine the role of the American vice presidency, assuming unprecedented responsibilities and making it a post of historic power.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594201868ISBN:1594201862
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Description: New. 1594201862 Dust jacket has very little shelf wear. No remainder mark. Pages are clean with no markings, no creases and no dog-ears. Hardcover. read more
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Description: Like New. 2009-Paperback----Used-Like New-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Date Published: 2008-09-16
ISBN-13:9781594201868ISBN:1594201862
Description: Very Good. FIRST EDITION AND FIRST PRINTING with full number line. Dust jacket shows edge wear with faint creases. Fast Ship! 100% Guaranteed Purchase! read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594201868ISBN:1594201862
Description: Fine in very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 384 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. First printing in Fine condition in Near Fine dustjacket with small crease to front at gutter. New mylar protector. read more
Description: New. A Brand New Copy. Never Read. Buy with confidence from an Independent Bookstore where the owners, a husband and wife team, have over 30 years of combined bookselling experience. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Two
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780143116165ISBN:0143116169
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Press, New York
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594201868ISBN:1594201862
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 483 pp., [8] pp. of plates, illus., bib. notes, index; 25 cm. AS NEW. Dust jacket protected in a mylar book cover. CHENEY TO THE HAGUE! "Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barton Gellman's newsbreaking investigative journalism documents how Vice President Dick Cheney redefined the role of the American vice presidency, assuming unprecedented responsibilities and making it a post of historic power. Dick Cheney changed history, defining his times and ... read more
"This was an excellent book, based on Barton Gellman's Pulitzer Prize winning 2008 investigations and writings on National politics. As a Washington Post writer, Mr. Gellman had access to many in Cheney's inner circle and the Bush White House to put together this informative description of the Vice President's role in setting the tone and direction of the Administration. We've seen political cartoons over the past eight years with Dick Cheney as the ventriloquist, pulling the strings and putting words into the mouth of the Bush puppet sitting on his knee. A harsh depiction, perhaps, but as this book shows, there were some reasons for how that view became popular. How much of that stereotype was true, and how much was false was hard to know, until this book became available. This book answers a lot of those questions. It truly filled in a lot of gaps in the my understanding of the inner workings of the Bush Administration. Cheney had widely been reported to be the most powerful Vice President in American history. Few, if any, recent books explore the dynamics between the President and Vice President. Gellman does, and paints a clear picture of Cheney and his power, consistent with everything we've heard and read over these past eight years. The book also talks of other key members of Cheney's team, like David Addington, who was so central to many of the more unpopular and controversial initiatives of the Bush years. Gellman also points out some of the few in the Administration who were able to stand up to the powerful Cheney / Addington team such as Deputy Attorney General James Comey. (Comey was acting Attorney General who did not give in to the pressure from the White House to sign off on "illegal" spying when Ashcroft was hospitalized). If you're interested in understanding how Bush, who entered the Office as a Candidate envisioning policies such as "compassionate Conservatism", limiting global-warming, being a Uniter, championing Education reform and limited government, and then seemed to evolve into one of the Nation's most unpopular chief executives, should find this book very interesting. As Steve Clemons in the American Conservative stated, this is "an indispensable volume without which the Bush Presidency can't be understood"."
"A tour de force autobiography of one of the most important political figures of our times. Even someone who has been closely following Cheney, as I have, will learn a great deal. Gellman is extremely fair--taking great pains, for example, to exonerate Cheney from any leftwing allegations about corruption. The man's motivations are never venal. But he does a better job than any previous account of showing how Cheney managed to infiltrate his people into every part of the administrative process, in a way that allowed him to dominate the first Bush term on any issue he wanted. Ultimately, of course, Bush was the decider, but Cheney structured the advice he received in ways that the non-detail oriented Bush never figured out. I wonder what Bush would think if he had the patience to work his way through this book. Other highlights include a stunning portrait of Cheney's top aide, Addington, and how the man's extreme arrogance almost led to multiple resignations at the DOJ. Another revelation was Cheney's own hypocrisy in running the VP search. He asked for the most invasive process ever--and then lied to the nation about undergoing it himself. These are just highlights--nearly every page or so has a minor revelation worth the journey."
"Finished this book a few days ago, and I give it a strong recommendation. Gellman is meticulous to describe Cheney's modus operandi through its strengths and limitations, successes and failures. Gellman's assessment of the Cheney vice-presidency takes care to demonstrate what Cheney was and what Cheney wasn't. He pulls no punches in recounting the events leading up to the Bush administration's condoning of both torture and domestic surveillance. What was interesting to me was Gellman's treatment of Bush himself. Bush's managerial style acted as an enabler to Cheney's (and by extension, a very looming David Addington's) successes, executive power grabs, and complete and near-complete governing disasters, yet Bush figures almost not at all within the central narratives of the account. Not until the end does Gellman truly examine and make any comment on the unusual relationship.
Excerpt: "The critics missed something important. The formula was not empty. It was a syllogism, informed by the same old claim of unlimited power. 'Torture' was defined as 'what we do not condone,' as Bush put it. Whatever Bush did permit, Al Gonzales said, 'does not constitute torture.' Quod erat demonstrandum."
"Wow. The first two thirds of this book is excellent. Cheney is brilliantly able to achieve his objectives. Gellman describes how he could outmanuever and outwork all of his ideological foes. It is amazing to realize all of the Bush policies that have Cheney's fingerprints all over them--the tax cuts early in the first term, Guantanamo and treatment of detainees, the warantless wiretapping initiative, energy and environmental policy. Truly, he took to VP office to new heights. Oh, the secrets! His morally questionable methods! And the way he bypassed Congress and just about everyone else!
The narrative style of this book makes it very readable. The book is meticulously researched and footnoted. However, a lot of the names started to blur together for me at the end (I wished there was a glossary with names and descriptions), and some of the final chapters meander.
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