EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — A couple of week earlier than being interviewed by Richard Bruce Cheney about whether or not I’d be the correct individual to function his nationwide safety briefer, I broke a bone in my left foot. Whereas bounding down the steps at house in a rush to not be late to a gathering on the Nationwide Safety Council, I missed a step. So, slightly than spending the morning at The White Home, I spent it at a physician’s workplace getting a giant, goofy, purple solid on my left leg. Incredible. How higher to exude to the Vice President of america that I’d be competent as his President’s Each day Transient (PDB) briefer, than hobbling into the interview with a solid? By some means, I acquired the job.
Throughout the presidency of George W. Bush, the President and Vice President’s PDB briefers met and traveled with them six days every week, generally seven. We’d awaken each morning round 1:00am to organize what is called the “Ebook” and accompanying materials. The Ebook was the President’s Each day Transient itself, a brutally concise, comparatively quick assortment of intelligence analyses produced at the moment, by simply the CIA; it went to a brief record of designated policymakers. All who acquired it additionally acquired morning briefers to accompany and broaden on the content material as wanted and to take taskings, however solely these for the President and Vice President routinely traveled with them. Along with the PDB, there was “behind-the-tab” materials for all recipients besides the President. In Cheney’s case, I made a decision—with zero supervision or coordination—what he additionally wanted to see, per my judgement. Uncooked intel, press items, e-book summaries, graphics, and anything that I assumed may very well be helpful.
I typically briefed the then-Vice President on the Naval Observatory, the official residence for U.S. vice presidents. However only a week into the job, I accompanied him on Marine Two to Camp David, the place he would attend some conferences. Thus started a speedy, each day studying curve into who this man was – beginning with how he handled others.
“Others” fell typically into two classes with little grey space between—these he revered and people he didn’t. Folks in each classes normally knew the place they stood, and Cheney didn’t manifest completely different orientations towards individuals primarily based on their societal stations in life. This was a person whose default setting was to indicate courtesy and respect towards others until they satisfied him in any other case. Each certainly one of his ushers, central members of the residence workers, instructed me individually – with zero nudging from me – that they preferred the Cheneys far more than they preferred their predecessors. Why, I requested. As a result of the Cheneys all the time confirmed respect to them, their time calls for, they instructed me. As for these within the different class? Many people recall Cheney telling Senator Patrick Leahy to “go f*** your self” on the Senate flooring in 2004. He additionally bluntly expressed his opinions on a variety of actors and even nations to me throughout our time collectively. Few if any fell into grey space.
Nominations for excellent leaders in nationwide safety and intelligence are actually open for the 2026 Cipher Transient Honors Dinner. Discover out extra right here.
Cheney constantly hosted the longest of the PDB periods throughout all PDB recipients of that Administration, a mirrored image of his mental curiosity, the limitless stacks of books and different issues he learn, his a few years of navigating the U.S. Authorities and geopolitics, and the truth that on most mornings, he went from his briefings with me to attending PDB periods together with his boss. I all the time had at the very least half-hour with him, and on mornings when occasions or journey altered the President’s schedule, my periods might stretch past 90 minutes.
One thing that was mirrored in his time dedication to these PDB periods was that, amongst being many issues, Dick Cheney was an overachiever of the world-class order. No matter process, responsibility, mission, strategic pursuit that may be in his cross hairs, he could be completely ready. This a part of him in fact helped land his stint because the youngest White Home Chief of Workers in historical past, beneath President Gerald Ford.
A lot has been written about Cheney’s position and actions within the instant wake of 11th of September; I got here after, through the run as much as and penalties following America’s second invasion of Iraq. Due to after I briefed him and the job I took instantly afterward in July 2003 – Chief of CIA’s Iraq enterprise protecting navy, political, management, and financial evaluation – I draw from a singular mixture of views to supply context on the Iraq, Dick Cheney story. Some can be shocked by what I noticed together with throughout NSC conferences chaired by President Bush and attended by Cheney after I sat in because the ‘plus-one’ for the CIA Director or for the Director of Nationwide Intelligence.
On March 16, 2002, Dick Cheney stated on NBC’s Meet the Press, “I believe issues have gotten so dangerous inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi individuals, my perception is we are going to, in reality, be greeted as liberators . . . I believe it [the invasion] will go comparatively rapidly . . . weeks slightly than months.” As we now know, he – and different seniors within the Bush Administration – couldn’t have been extra incorrect.
Not lengthy after we invaded Iraq in March of 2003, violence there started to swell up, and shortly thereafter the CIA enterprise I headed gave President Bush and Cheney – their first and extremely unwelcome dose of the “I” phrase: insurgency. Early on, Bush and different Administration seniors defined the sources of the violence as “criminals, regime dead-enders, or trouble-makers” pushed into the nation by Iraq and Syria as operatives. However in the summertime of 2003, we put a PDB into the Oval Workplace arguing that an organized and indigenous insurgency was rapidly creating. Suggestions from Bush’s PDB briefer that morning was “The President was so indignant he got here off his chair. He desires a memo tomorrow morning recounting after we warned him this was coming.” Loads individuals labored in a single day to supply that 4.5-page piece, which delivered what was requested.
Sooner or later between that preliminary shock and late summer time, fall of 2003, Cheney – whom we had briefed in additional element on the insurgency, instructed us “The President wants to listen to this.” Contemplate that one of many Administration’s most vocal and influential advocates of invading Iraq, who had been on file saying the hassle could be straightforward and quick, had now turned to persuading Bush and his whole NSC that we confronted an insurgency in Iraq. Cheney knew that this info, as soon as it entered the general public enviornment, would probably get himself in addition to President Bush eviscerated by the media and by critics. However that appeared to matter little to him; america was underestimating what it was now dealing with in Iraq, and Cheney’s focus grew to become aligning coverage with actuality.
The Cipher Transient brings expert-level context to nationwide and world safety tales. It’s by no means been extra vital to grasp what’s taking place on the earth. Improve your entry to unique content material by turning into a subscriber.
Just a few days earlier than Veterans Day in 2003, somebody within the CIA Director’s workplace instructed me there could be a briefing that day for Bush’s NSC on Iraq that I’d lead. Cheney had facilitated this. I additionally was instructed I might take one analyst of my selection, however I knew some on the NSC would push again arduous and would count on “within the weeds” particulars of our evaluation, so I subbed myself out and despatched two senior analysts who knew the weeds – a superlative navy skilled and a political-analyst counterpart.
It was a PhD and former Marine CIA navy analyst in my Iraq enterprise who compelled then Secretary of Protection Don Rumsfeld and others to just accept that an insurgency was rising in Iraq. The analyst’s most persuasive second got here when Rumsfeld argued forcefully that there have been a number of and differing definitions of insurgency, making use of the phrase complicated at greatest and inaccurate at worst. That navy analyst calmly however firmly summarized the 2 most generally accepted definitions and illustrated that the CIA’s conclusion was primarily based on the one noticed by Rumsfeld’s Division of Protection. The analyst additionally laid out premises wanted to justify that definition, all of which all within the room had been seeing. Bush declared acceptance, famous that NSC members needed to be sq. with this actuality amongst themselves, and requested all to keep away from the phrase insurgency in public.
Let me shut with an perception that sheds mild on Cheney’s close to obsession with going into Iraq to search out WMD after which exhibiting a degree of consolation with enhanced interrogation methods that many discover appalling.
One morning after a PDB briefing with me, Cheney sat again and recounted some historical past following the Gulf Warfare, throughout which he was Secretary of Protection. He jogged my memory with some power that in interrogations of Saddam Hussein’s son-in-law Hussein Kamel, who defected quickly, we realized that Iraq’s nuclear-weapons program was additional alongside than we had assessed. Fairly than a type of scolding for off-the-mark CIA evaluation again then, this attitude he was sharing signaled an acknowledgement that I knew the load of his position in persuading Bush ’43 to invade Iraq—and in his thoughts, he had good purpose. If we had been underestimating Saddam’s WMD program once more and Osama bin Laden gained entry to any a part of it, the implications for People could be catastrophic.
The Economist Journal not too long ago summarized the unwavering sense of responsibility to nation felt by Cheney. Within the closing phrases of its obituary in reference to criticism about his posture towards countering terrorism, and on being incorrect about WMD in Iraq, The Economist wrote: “He was unmoved . . . He was, as all the time, simply doing his job. Making an attempt to guard America.”
All statements of reality, opinion, or evaluation expressed are these of the writer and don’t mirror the official positions or views of the US Authorities. Nothing within the contents must be construed as asserting or implying US Authorities authentication of data or endorsement of the writer’s views.
Learn extra expert-driven nationwide safety insights, perspective and evaluation in The Cipher Transient as a result of Nationwide Safety is Everybody’s Enterprise.
