in a black sharpie kind of pen that he used. and i m told that s the first time the laffer curve was drawn or describe today in that fashion. it is absolutely brilliant. the truth is zero tax rate you get zero revenues. 100% tax rate you also get zorro revenues somewhere in that curve you can optimize revenue without dissuading and discouraging entrepreneurial activity and investment in the kinds of things that create the jobs and products for this wonderful country. i blame a believer. you fast forward in 2003 we cut the capital gains rate, rate on interest across the board cuts on the income tax and passed by this is 30 years later. bret: 14 months into the ford administration, cheney got a huge promotion. ford moved rumsfeld to defense secretary, elevated cheney to
gone away. bret: as it turned out president obama has continued a number of bush-cheney policies that he criticized. he s kept the detention facility at guantanamo bay open. increased the up in of targeted assassinations of terrorists with drones. largely followed bush s post search strategy in iraq. he ordered a surge in afghanistan. he did set a date for a troop draw down in the same speech. cheney remains no big fan of president obama. as he told us in february 2010. i believe that based on what has happened in the last few months there s a good chance that barack obama will be a one-term president. bret: five days after this interview, cheney suffered his fifth heart attack. cheney had emergency surgery to install an artificial heart pump. it left him technically with no pulse. nine months later a skinnier
we were faced with a different situation. all of a sudden what was going on in that part of the world would impact home. bret: iraq, vice president cheney said he felt that you werezfz worrying too much about united nations approval. yes. bret: the vice president asked at one of your private lunches, are you going to take care of this guy or not? yeah. there was an impatience. i was doing everything i could to avoid the use of the military. bret: march 20th, 2003, the u.s. invaded iraq. three weeks into the war, saddam hussein fled baghdad. dramatic success on the battlefield kept the public behind bush s global war on terror. that included a host of nonmilitary measures to protect america from further terrorist attacks. eavesdropping on terrorist phone calls. tracking their money.
i feel a certain pride in america myself. bret: cheney was only 34-years-old. that the nation is able to find and identify a man like gerald ford. bret: do you think you had the experience to do that job, at that time? i was so busy i didn t have time to worry about it. i had a very positive view of cheney in those years. bret: kissinger said the man who would become known for his strong views on america s place in the world had little to say on such matters in the ford administration i am i don t remember any interaction with cheney on foreign policy. i thought he was a helpful facilitator. bret: the is. gave cheney the code name the secret service gave cheney the code name, backseat. ford made him campaign manager. they would not beat carter.
of soviet affairs. i remember then secretary of defense cheney was someone who was able to debate and talk with even somebody as junior as i was at that time. bret: when plans were made to repel saddam hussein s invasion of kuwait, cheney argued behind closed doors on behalf of a powerful presidency. he didn t want president bush to go to congress. he didn t want him to go the united nations either because he didn t want bush s hands tied. bret: bush did both and go their endorsements. seems there is only going to be one outcome, his defeat. bret: desert storm perhaps the most successful military operation in modern history. the coalition left saddam hussein in power, cheney defended that controversial decision. bottom line question for me was, how many an al americans lives is saddam hussein worth? how many additional american lives is saddam hussein worth?