bret: october 7th, the military launched operation indaughtering freedom, attacking al-qaeda and taliban in afghanistan. before the year was out taliban lost control of the country. the low-grade war would continue almost a decade and post a serious challenge to america s will. next the administration set its sights on iraq. where a dangerous foe was believed to be building weapons of mass destruction. harboring terrorists and violating u.n. sanctions. dick cheney became one of the administration s strongest advocates for the war. there is no doubt that saddam hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. there is no doubt that he is amazing them to use he is amassing them to use against our friends, allies and us. bret: radical turn from the first gulf war when he said we should not spill american blood to force saddam from power. what changed?
bret: bush had sky high approval ratings following the gulf war. a sluggish economy made those numbers palm mit. bush s son thought he would have a better better chance against clinton if his dad changed the bottom of the ticket. you suggested to your dad that he replace quayle with cheney? i thought he needed to make a big change to change the dynamics of what looked like a very difficult campaign. one suggestion was maybe you ought to think about cheney. dad dismissed it out of hand. bret: george h.w. bush lost to bill clinton for the third time in cheney s career his boss was forced from office. what next? cheney was starting to see himself as presidential timber. that story, when we come back.
economics was tasked with running a program he opposed the nixon administration s wage and price control program. cheney went with him. you could not substitute successfully, the decision-making processes of a few bureaucrats and office holders in washington for the genius of americans all over the country. bret: in 1972 cheney left the administration to join a consulting firm. rumsfeld moved to brussels as ambassador to nato. soon after the nixon administration imploded. neither cheney nor rumsfeld were tainted by the watergate scandal. when nixon resigned ford called rumsfeld back to washington. you asked cheney to pick up at dulles. that s the first thing i did. he met me at the airport. bret: that had to be an interesting radio ride? i was. he asked me if i could get
locking them up indefintely at guantanamo bay. using enhanced interrogation techniques to make them talk. it add up it added to an extraordinary an of presidential powers, aggressively pushed by cheney and his staff. the power to win a war, was not and is not an unusual view, cheney s view of the president. is it traditional view. it certainly has it limits. bret: one of the first major decisions to try foreign terror suspects in special military tribunals. a decision pushed by cheney, shared with few in the administration itch the military tribune thats were authorized by the president in an order in an order that i have not seen. went to the president and i said mr. president, if that happens again, somebody is going to have to resign. bret: nobody resigned. cheney s critics depicted him as a4ia÷ secretive schemer, usig the war as an excuse to shred
things i would have to do to be a candidate for it. bret: cheney left washington. moved to texas. and became very rich as ceo of the halliburton corporation. an oilfield services company and big government contractor. cheney pocketed more than 20 million dollars between 1995 and 2000 when texas governor and gop presidential nominee george w. bush called. he asked cheney to help him find a running mate. after an extensive search bush picked dick cheney.s, but dgment as we. t: concerned were you about the perception about getting some of your father s cabinet members and going back to his defense secretary? i wasn t that worried about following in daddy s footsteps syndrome. dick is a reluctant person which made him more attractive. he said he wanted me to be part of the team. he wanted me to be there to work with him on the issues of