Posted on 11/02/2010 4:53:50 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Bush Considered Dropping Cheney From 2004 Ticket By PETER BAKER
6:14 p.m. | Updated President George W. Bush considered dumping Vice President Dick Cheney from his 2004 reelection ticket to dispel the myths about Mr. Cheney’s power in the White House and “demonstrate that I was in charge,” the former president says in a new memoir.
The idea came from Mr. Cheney, who offered to drop out of the race one day during a private lunch between the two men in mid-2003. “I did consider the offer,” Mr. Bush writes, and spent several weeks exploring the possibility of replacing Mr. Cheney with Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, before opting against the switch.
“While Dick helped with important parts of our base, he had become a lightning rod for criticism from the media and the left,” Mr. Bush writes. “He was seen as dark and heartless – the Darth Vader of the administration.” The president resented the caricature that Mr. Cheney really controlled the White House. “Accepting Dick’s offer would be one way to demonstrate that I was in charge,” he writes.
But in the end, Mr. Bush writes, “the more I thought about it, the more strongly I felt Dick should stay. I hadn’t picked him to be a political asset; I had chosen him to help me do the job. That was exactly what he had done.” Mr. Bush wrote that he trusted Mr. Cheney, valued his steadiness and considered him a good friend. So, “at one of our lunches a few weeks later, I asked Dick to stay and he agreed.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
That sounds just like Cheney: concerned for the team and the country, not just for himself. We need many more politicians like Dick Cheney. He’s always been a humble classy guy.
Sounds like Bush’s book is going to be honest and straightforward, just like the man.
If you’ll read the quotes, he’s very complimentary toward Cheney. This was likely one of the easiest decisions of his presidency.
I wouldn't want "political payoffs" giving me advice. I'm looking for wisdom across the table from me. President Bush was running a country not a PTA meeting.
And I miss him and wish him and his family all good things.
I think George and Laura ae gonna make great grandparents someday.
Cheney shoulda dropped Bush.
That’s nothing.
Bush kept defending Def. Sec. Rumsfeld up through the 2006 election, despite Republican requests to toss him, to help the election.
Days after the election, Bush dumped Rumsfeld. Remember the shocked faces in Washington?
That’s Bush, showing his toughness by standing up to his party.
with an incredibly sharp mind... and quick wit...
NY Times’s other motive in reporting this is to show voters that O’Fartface will not be the first president in history to have considered dumping his veep before running for a second term.
He hadn’t picked him to be a political asset? The fact the memo was out he lacked gravitas and they needed to shore up conservative base had nothing to do with Cheney being picked in 2000? And removing him and thus depressing that base in 2004 wasn’t to your political gain? Right Mr.President.
“NY Times’s other motive in reporting this is to show voters that O’Fartface will not be the first president in history to have considered dumping his veep before running for a second term.”
Impressive - you’re right of course. The NYT obviously knows that Biden is history, but doesn’t think it necessary to let the country know that. Naa, why bother, he’s only the number 2 person in government.
It would have also been nice to have dropped GWB from the 2004 ticekt.
The real issue with Dick Cheney has always been his health. He started having heart attacks at the age of 37, and has had five, as well as an assortment of other cardiovascular problems.
Truthfully, I never thought he would make it through his terms in office. For a time, there was a strong suggestion that he would retire, so that Bush could appoint Condoleeza Rice as VP, but that the Democrats in congress adamantly refused to let that happen. And since a replacement VP has to be approved by congress, it couldn’t happen.
But in his role as VP, Cheney was exemplary. He is likely the most effective VP the US has ever had.
Then who would he have had to kick Edward’s ass during their debate?
Advice from Rove, that ba$tard?
Why is it an issue? The suggestion came from Cheney himself. As a president who listened to his confidant, Dubya listened to Cheney, considered it for a while, and decided that it was not a good advise.
I like Cheney and I am glad Bush kept him.
I did have and still have some doubts regarding how much better we all might have been had he selected a viable candidate for 2008 much like Reagan had in Bush 1.
I would much prefer that some conservative VP taken the reins from Bush in 2008 and extended the era another 4-8 years. I think that could have happened with the right choice.
By closing that door, it did allow Bush and Cheney to stick to their guns more fiercely— which I think many Freepers might contest but I really believe. There was no effort by the two to play to the coy middle. They even let McCain and Palin run against them which is incredibly generous given how awesome the two were.
I still believe the Bush presidency may rival Reagan’s
I do wonder if there was any way to hand it off. I would even have gone for Cheney pairing with some young conservative VP. That would have been awesome and the ultimate heart attack for liberals.
You’re reading my mind on that one.
A good start.
I liked Cheney, too...but I think he was the wrong pick for a second Bush term - and I have a very simple reason for that. Cheney didn’t want to run for the White House. This was a missed opportunity to get a fresh face on the big stage prior to the presidential election. We well may have had a different, better candidate than McCain running for president...and that may well have saved the country from the mistake of electing 0bama.
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