Dick Cheney in Against the Tide, by Lincoln Chafee

On Energy & Oil: 2000: No intention to keep campaign promise to regulate CO2

I thought back to how EPA administrator Christie Todd Whitman had made the mistake of taking Pres. Bush at his world. In her public appearances, she often repeated his campaign pledge on regulating greenhouse gases. I think she believed him. But remember that just weeks into the new administration, V.P. Cheney delighted the Republican caucus by announcing that the president had no intention of honoring that pledge. A senator shouted, "Somebody better tell Christie!" as the caucus erupted with cheers. Source: Against the Tide, by Sen. Lincoln Chafee, p.237 Apr 1, 2008

On Foreign Policy: Disavow or cancel numerous international agreements

Richard Cheney would shatter everything I had believed was true about our party, our campaign, our victory, and the 4 years ahead.

In steady, quiet tones, the vice president-elect laid out a shockingly divisive political agenda for the new Bush administration, glossing over nearly every pledge the Republican ticket had made to the America voter. We were going to get out of a host of international agreements, he said. We would disavow the UN's Kyoto Protocol on global climate change, even if it were to be ratified by a sufficient number of nations to give it the force of international law. We would end our support for the establishment of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. We would cancel the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty ratified in 1972. We would slash taxes by $1.6 trillion and wipe out the budget surpluses generated in the Clinton era.

Source: Against the Tide, by Sen. Lincoln Chafee, p. 6 Apr 1, 2008

On Foreign Policy: OpEd: Browbeat Pakistani leaders to get tough on Al Qaeda

In 2007, Cheney went to Pakistan to pressure Gen. Pervez Musharraf into increasing Pakistani military efforts in the lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border. Cheney hardly needed to mention to the general the $10 billion that the US had doled out to him since Sept. 11, most of it in military aid.

Anyone who attempts to rule such a country as Pakistan wants to suppress radical elements without drawing them into a mutual suicide pact. Common sense tells you that deals are made. You leave me alone, I leave you alone.

When Cheney went to Pakistan to browbeat the general to get tougher on Afghan fighters taking sanctuary in his country, I knew it would not be long before a "top Taliban commander" was captured in Pakistan, then everything would settle back down to the status quo.

We saw this routine for years with organized crime in New England. When the pressure was on, the Mafia would serve up an expendable stooge who was making trouble for the mob anyway, then it would be business as usual

Source: Against the Tide, by Sen. Lincoln Chafee, p.114-115 Apr 1, 2008

On Principles & Values: OpEd: Did not ask Senate for support, but ordered it

[At a meeting of GOP moderates] we sat there and listened as Cheney made divisive pronouncements of policy that would come as a complete surprise to many of the Americans who had voted to elect the Bush-Cheney ticket.

The contentious and destructive agenda that Cheney dropped on us was troubling enough, but what really unnerved me was his attitude. He welcomed conflict.

Cheney tore our best campaign promises to shreds and the moderates acquiesced instead of pelting him with outrage. It was clear to me then that there would be no key bloc of moderate votes helping to shape legislation and reunite America over the next 4 years. In any event, Cheney was not asking for support--he was ordering us to provide it. The president-elect had his agenda; we were just along for the ride.

My heart sank as my colleagues peeled away, one by one. It was the most demoralizing moment of my 7-year tenure in the Senate.

Source: Against the Tide, by Sen. Lincoln Chafee, p. 8-10 Apr 1, 2008

On Principles & Values: OpEd: Welcomed partisan conflict, despite campaign promises

Cheney's contentious and destructive agenda was troubling, but [worse] was his attitude: He welcomed conflict. We Republicans had promised America exactly the opposite.

That devastating first day after Bush and prevailed in the Supreme Court, if we were to believe Cheney, Bush would not only reignite the partisanship of the Clinton-Gingrich era but would make it even more toxic. Cheney tore our best campaign promises to shreds and the moderates acquiesced instead of pelting him with outrage.

Source: Against the Tide, by Sen. Lincoln Chafee, p. 8-9 Apr 1, 2008

The above quotations are from Against the Tide How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President by Lincoln Chafee. Click here for other excerpts from Against the Tide How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President by Lincoln Chafee. Click here for other excerpts by Dick Cheney. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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