Synopses & Reviews
Here is the definitive portrait of the ultimate power broker by “the toughest, most in-your-face investigative reporter in the U.S.A.” (Greg Palast). Dick Cheney sets energy policy. He guided the nation into war with Iraq. And, working closely with Karl Rove, he oversees the political infrastructure that allows corporate interests and the religious right to control lawmaking, regulation, the selection of judges, and the development of foreign policy. As John Dean put it, “This page-turner closes the case: Cheney is our de facto president.”
With an emboldened administration that has turned a thin victory into a renewed mandate—rewarding ideologues and purging dissenters—John Nichols’s question is more urgent than ever: can this nation survive four more years of Dick Cheney?
The Rise and Rise of Richard B. Cheney draws on groundbreaking reporting—including exclusive interviews with Cheney’s college professors, Nelson Mandela, Gore Vidal, and political insiders.
Review
"[I]n this campaign season, many readers will appreciate the light Nichols has shed on Cheney, a self-described behind-the-scenes player who has enormous influence on the President." Library Journal
Review
"John Nichols' compact, scathing book on Richard Cheney takes as a given that the Vice President controls the Bush White House....In Nichols' portrait, Dick is a power-obsessed, conniving, not particularly competent, and generally nasty fellow....Nichols, The Nation's Washington correspondent, describes a Vice President who has benefited hugely from his man-behind-the-curtain persona. Dick is a frightening and witty book that does much to reveal the inner Cheney." Anna Godbersen, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
When a lone gunman started shooting outside the White House on a weekday morning two years ago, Secret Service agents rushed to secure the leaders of the free world. They found Dick Cheney in his office talking on a speakerphone, reviewing material on a computer screen, and directing aides who were gathered around his desk. President Bush? He was in the gym. Dick Cheney, says John Nichols, runs the country. He sets energy policy. He guided the nation into war with Iraq, and, working closely with Karl Rove, he oversees the political infrastructure that allows corporate interests and the religious right to control lawmaking.
Dick: The Man Who Is President draws on groundbreaking reporting-including exclusive interviews with Cheney himself, as well as with Nelson Mandela, Gore Vidal, members of Congress, and others who have tangled with Cheney. Timed for the fall election campaign, the book will open debate on a key, unasked question: Do Americans really want Dick Cheney running their country?
Synopsis
Backed by groundbreaking reporting including exclusive interviews with key political players Nichols asserts that Dick Cheney is actually running the country.
About the Author
John Nichols is The Nation's Washington correspondent. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. and is a co-founder (with Robert McChesney) of the national media reform organization Free Press. He is the author of It's the Media, Stupid and Jews for Buchanan (The New Press).