the constitution. to them his secret service code name, angler, was all too apt. you love fishing. they say you are the angler in more ways than one. is there some truth to that? well, the secret service came up with the code name. the code name i had in the ford administration was backseat. maybe i should go back to that one. bret: as the 2004 election approached cheney was willing to do more than take a backseat. he was willing to step aside for a new running mate. he offered to step down? he did. i was impressed that the vice president, during a lunch would say if you think you can strengthen the ticket, i will move on, no hard feelings. nobel gesture on his part. everybody s vice president ought to do that. bret: you gave it thought? absolutely.
after the the 2008 election the vice president pushed his boss to grant libby a full pardon. in one of their last meetings before president obama took office, president bush told cheney, he was letting the conviction stand. no question about it. it upset dick. and i was concerned that it would strain our relationship. i can tell you, i still know he thinks it is the wrong decision. bret: how do you see your relationship now? it is good. i consider him a close friend. and i m glad i picked him in 2000. i m grad i kept him on the ticket in 2004. and i would make the same decision again. bret: president bush largely stayed silent while president obama blamed his administration for the country s ills. dick cheney not so much. coming up, after the break. turn left. you have arrived.
dick cheney revealed. bret: welcome back. the 9/11 attacks chained the world. america s response to them would define the bush administration. if anyone was prepared for such a shattering crisis, it was dick cheney. i was in my office in the west wing in that first hour. radar caught sight of an airliner heading toward the white house. secret service agents came into my office and said we had to leave now. a few moments later, i found myself in a fortified white house command post somewhere down below. bret: president bush
and frail cheney remerged. he and hises did are now considering a heart transplant. now 70-years-old, cheney is in a period of reflection as he finishes his memoir on his decades of public service. i ve had a great tour out of the last 40 years most in government, politics. i ve loved every minute of it. the vice president was someone in whom the president could trust to give him his best advice. to argue with people like me. and then when the president decided to [ inaudible ] bret: there are very few people who have the history that you two have. the pinnacle of u.s. power. you reflect on that when you get together? we don t. we talk about the future. we talk about the country. we talk about the world. he s a man who served his country noblely and did it
bret: cheney would be reelected six times. in congress he had two more heart attacks. in 1984 and 88. they wouldn t stop his rise. he became minority whip, the second in command among house republicans. though he was a leader in the legislative branch, he remained a forceful supporter of executive power. speaking out in favor of ronald reagan during the iran contra scandal. i think what the president was guilty of was making unwise decisions sending arms to iran. i think he had the legal authority to do that and seek funds from third countries to support contrast. he had the legal authority to withhold notification from congress. bret: back then cheney was one of the most popular republicans with the media in 1989 president george h.w. bush asked him to before in the executive branch as secretary of defense. i was the special assistant