Cheney's Fall From Grace

Bush made him one of history's most powerful Vice Presidents. But the Libby trial unmasked an aggressive, secretive style that has made him an Administration liability

Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images

Vice President Dick Cheney (L) with I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

George Bush's sense of humor has always run more to frat-house gag than art-house irony, so he may not have appreciated the poetic justice any more than the legal justice on display in the Libby verdict.

Or, to be more precise, the Cheney verdict.

Bush stumped just about everyone seven years ago when he tapped the safe and solid Dick Cheney to be his running mate. But Bush didn't want any trouble. He didn't want a Vice President who preened before the cameras. He didn't want a policy sparring partner. And he didn't...

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