Bush's Secret World
By Craig Crawford
CQ
January 15, 2009
George W. Bush could not let go of his passion for privacy, never seeming to fully understand that he is a public servant who owed the nation more transparency. He ran one of the most secretive administrations in history.
Vice President Dick Cheney was allowed far-reaching duties and a zone of privacy that the president did not even reserve for himself. Even Cheney's whereabouts were top secret, producing a round of national jokes about his "undisclosed locations."
When Cheney accidentally shot a man on a hunting trip in Texas, it took days to get the details. His aides later said the vice president had opposed early efforts to inform the White House press corps, instead only authorizing communication with a tiny local newspaper.
Cheney's top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, ended up a convict essentially for lying to protect his boss, who had presided over a phenomenal White House campaign to discredit a former American diplomat, Joseph Wilson, who had dared to publicly oppose the administration's Iraq policies. In retaliation, Libby and others leaked classified information about Wilson's wife, who worked for the CIA.
(More here.)
CQ
January 15, 2009
George W. Bush could not let go of his passion for privacy, never seeming to fully understand that he is a public servant who owed the nation more transparency. He ran one of the most secretive administrations in history.
Vice President Dick Cheney was allowed far-reaching duties and a zone of privacy that the president did not even reserve for himself. Even Cheney's whereabouts were top secret, producing a round of national jokes about his "undisclosed locations."
When Cheney accidentally shot a man on a hunting trip in Texas, it took days to get the details. His aides later said the vice president had opposed early efforts to inform the White House press corps, instead only authorizing communication with a tiny local newspaper.
Cheney's top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, ended up a convict essentially for lying to protect his boss, who had presided over a phenomenal White House campaign to discredit a former American diplomat, Joseph Wilson, who had dared to publicly oppose the administration's Iraq policies. In retaliation, Libby and others leaked classified information about Wilson's wife, who worked for the CIA.
(More here.)
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