Book Review: "In My Time" by Dick Cheney. Who Knew Cheney Was So Liberal?

Pat Fish's Blog ^ | 6/21/12 | Pat Fish

[x]

Cheney and Rumsfeld were considered liberal Republicans in the 1960s. By the time Cheney became vice president, his hardline foreign policy, his passion for a powerful executive branch, and maybe his personal abrasiveness got him a reputation as a strong conservative.

His later voting record in Congress was indeed conservative, but his love was centralizing, rather than decentralizing power, so maybe he's not the best choice for conservative icon.

Cheney's known for feuds like the one with Rice. Given Cheney's reputation, his "tearful Condi admits I was right all along" anecdote is maybe in poor taste. At any rate, Rice denies the story.

In 2003, Scowcroft was right to be skeptical of the claims made by the hawks. I suspect even Cheney recognizes that he can't push his criticism too far at this point.

[SaraJohnson]

Thanks for sharing your excellent book review. I am not entertaining any more mealy mouth RINO book narratives at the moment - even from Cheney’s lesbian daughter. ;D

[KC Burke]

I know that Thomas Sowell’s columns on FR are his highest visibility there but those are a very watered down version of the true scholar that he is as an Economist with a wide field of interest.

Read one of his books like “A Conflict of Visions” and then read “A Personal Odessey”. The man is a true genius that can write for all levels. Like Hayek or Friedman, economics is just his field of study and as a scholar and researcher, he can tackle anything he sets his mind toward.

[Fishtalk]

Hmmmm.

Thank you for your insight.

I think you are correct in that Cheney was way more “liberal” (using that word gently) than I thought.

I knew nothing about a feud with Rice, at least at the time. I was quite shocked.

Although, again, you seem right on because he did have a lot of “feuds” with people-again using that term in the gentlest manner.

BUT, most times, as I read, I thought Cheney was in the right side of the matter and he justifies his logic and decisions nicely in the book.

I do disagree with your assessment of Brent Scowcroft. I remember Scowcroft and I recall he was an ancient dinosaur and thank God he’s now off of the national stage. Don’t call Scowcroft’s concern skepticism. The man stated that the UN Security council could keep Saddam under control, this after that same security council issued some 16 resolutions then did nothing. That’s not skepticism, that’s stupidity.

When you say he’s not the “best” choice of a conservative icon, even ignoring that bit about the lesbian daughter and his belief in same-sex marriage because of it, I think you’re right.

Cheney’s hardly any kind of extreme right-wing types no matter what MSNBC tells us.

[Fishtalk]

Thank you.

I thought it was a good review, not so much because I wrote it though I accept all kudos. But I read this book closely, remembering every incident Cheney mentioned, ruminating and pondering my thoughts at the time.

EXCEPT for that one incident Cheney did NOT mention, which I consider very telling.

To correct the record, I think his lesbian daughter is Mary, not Liz...if that’s what you meant.

He’s got two grandchildren by his lesbian daughter and her partner....what a strange set of affairs.

[Fishtalk]

Yes, I know Sowell mostly via his columns. Which are excellent.

I will try one of your suggestions and thank you for it.

[BlueDragon]

Left you a note. :^)

[stylin19a]

my take on Cheney's book is, he was relegated to background noise in the 2nd term as Condi became Bush's fair-haired girl.

Dick Cheney is a class act and if he was soft on people he could have hammered, I believe it was on purpose.

[Fishtalk]

I agree with every word in your comment.

But one does have to kind of “deduce” your summary as Cheney handles it with class.

He did not seem to approve of Condi, or the entire state department for that matter.

This is something I did not know as it was apparently happening. Even in the book you kind of have to read between the lines.

And yes, Dubya did give Condi wide berth and admiration now that I think about it.

It was the state department’s handling of North Korea that seemed to so bother Cheney. Frankly I don’t know if Condi’s state regime or all state department regimes tend to kowtow to fearless leader as I do so remember Albright and how she admitted on national TV that she had been fooled by ole Kim Jong-Il.

But it’s a fact that of all the people in his surround that Cheney criticized or questioned in this book, he honed in on Condi the most.

Again, I was astounded.