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Had Sept. 11 never happened, there is no telling what kind of presidency Bush would have had or what kind of deputy he would have needed. But in the national crisis, when all the bright lights came up on the White House stage, there was a chance to rewrite the rules, rewire the whole Executive Branch. Bush had the zeal to make the war on terrorism his mission; Cheney provided the theology. "With Bush, it's all gut; it's visceral," a White House official says. "He hates Saddam. He's an evil guy who tried to assassinate his dad, and he's gonna get him. With Cheney, it's all logical and deliberate and thought through. He knows the issues, he's studied them, and he really believes--he's convinced by the facts--that Saddam poses an unacceptable threat to the United States."
WINDS OF WAR
In the days that followed 9/11, Bush found his voice and rallied the country, while Cheney was whisked off to his "undisclosed location." It was the ultimate testimonial: most Vice Presidents disappear from view because they don't matter; Cheney had to disappear because he does. He quickly emerged as first among equals in the war cabinet, which was all the more striking given who the equals are. Colin Powell is the untouchable star, both at home and abroad; his job-approval rating, which hovers around 85%, is typically 20 points higher than Bush's good marks, which means he is both a partner in this Administration and a potential rival. Defense chief Donald Rumsfeld used his Pentagon briefings to turn up his star wattage and in private meetings is the fire breather; he runs much hotter about the dangers of Saddam Hussein than anyone else. As National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice has the advantage of a sweet spot in Bush's comfort zone; she is the one spending weekends with the family at Camp David or quietly arbitrating among warring factions at State and Defense.
Cheney's force is gravitational; his relationship with Bush is so close and so big that he is the fixed weight who pulls policy in his direction. He can just sit there in meetings, camped inside his sidewinder smile and cocking his head as if he's listening to music no one else hears. He saves his advice for a circle that no one else can enter. "He doesn't tell Bush what to think," says a White House adviser and Cheney friend. "It's a process. He lays it out. He guides Bush's thinking to a conclusion. But he knows the conclusion going in." Much as the U.S. keeps pulling the rest of the world toward a tougher line on Saddam, so Cheney keeps pulling within the White House. Bush uses Cheney to play that role publicly as well--most remarkably back in August, when Cheney's very tough speech about the threat posed by Iraq helped convince U.N. members that Bush was serious about going after Saddam, alone if necessary. "They wouldn't have known how serious we were," says a Cheney adviser of the outcome at the U.N., "if Dick Cheney hadn't been sitting there in a loincloth with a knife in his mouth."