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It also means that Cheney's influence depends entirely on the state of his relationship with Bush, which he has proved very good at tending. Its first pillar is that it includes only one President, now and forever more. This is all but an article of faith in Washington: as budget director Mitch Daniels puts it, Cheney's title is "Senior Adviser Without Future Political Ambition." As Bush happily told some congressional guests early in his first term, "Dick's doing a good job because he's told me he doesn't want to be President." Cheney had his fourth heart attack in November 2000, amidst the Florida recount drama--which lent him further credibility as one who can be appointed but not elected. "For the first time since Truman, you have a Veep who does not dream, does not wonder, does not think every day about being President," says a White House official. "And so Cheney has a much larger role than Bill could have given Al or 41 gave Dan Quayle or Ronald Reagan gave 41."
It might be more accurate to say that Dick Cheney is plenty ambitious, just not the way everyone assumes. Cheney knows that his not wanting power for himself allows Bush to give it to him. Bush put Cheney in charge of his transition because it sent an instant signal about Cheney's clout: "I want Dick to build up some political capital," Bush would say, "so he can go up to Capitol Hill and spend it." Ambitious lawmakers who may run one day themselves did not see Cheney as a rival. The Vice President sat at the Senate's G.O.P. policy lunches, taking notes; when Senator Trent Lott asked for comments, Cheney usually passed. When there was an important bill on the floor, he might say, 'You know, this means a lot to the President. We need to get this done.' And not much more.
This goes to the second piece of gospel about Bush and Cheney's partnership: that its inner workings are utterly secret, the Vice President perfectly discreet. He's Bush's personal CIA, with secure lines into corporate boardrooms, foreign governments, both houses of Congress and sleeper cells in every branch of government. When he went to visit senior British officials--who know something about reticence--they were struck by his demeanor. "There's no charisma," one of them observes. "But that's not what he's there for, which is intelligence, wisdom." In their first meeting, just before Bush took office, the official met with Cheney in Washington. "He just didn't say anything; so I kept talking and talking until I ran out of things to say. It made me feel like a complete idiot," he adds cheerfully--an acknowledgement that sometimes the best way to gather information is by not trying to. "And then at the end, he looked at me quizzically and said, 'How's your brother?'" The brother had been an aide to Margaret Thatcher and was still in Cheney's Rolodex.