The Co-Presidency

I just finished reading “The Co-Presidency of Bush and Cheney” by Shirley Anne Warshaw It is the story of two guys from Texas. One of them ran for President with little other purpose it seems than fulfilling what he thought was God’s plan for his life. The other one ran for Vice-President knowing exactly what changes he would like to make and how he would go about making them if he got the power to do so. Unfortunately, the first guy let the second guy have as much power as he wanted.

The key point in the whole story came early on when Bush put Cheney in charge of the transition after the 2000 election. While Bush followed the dispute over the Florida recount, Cheney was filling key slots in the new administration with appointees who would be loyal to him. Since Bush knew little about how Washington worked or foreign policy, he was happy to take Cheney's advice. Cheney was careful not to step on the toes of the loyalists that Bush brought with him from Texas, which wasn't that hard because Bush didn't have much of a domestic agenda beyond tax cuts and faith-based initiatives.

Bush never knew what hit him.