WP: Cheney Upholds Power of the Presidency

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Vice President Praises Bush as Strong, Decisive Leader Who Has Helped Restore Office

By Bob Woodward

Vice President Cheney said in an interview that the proper power of the presidency has finally been restored after being diminished in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate, and that President Bush contributed to the process by not allowing his narrow victory in the 2000 election to inhibit him during his first term.

"Even after we went through all of that, he never wanted to allow, correctly, the closeness of our election to in any way diminish the power of the presidency, lead him to make a decision that he needed to somehow trim his sails, and be less than a fully authorized, if you will, commander in chief, leader of our government, president of the United States," Cheney said in an interview last month that will be broadcast tomorrow night on "Inside the Presidency," a documentary on the History Channel.

Bush's assertiveness in the early days of his presidency, Cheney said, meant that he was able to respond decisively after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. "Faced with a whole new threat, set of challenges, you needed a strong, decisive president, and that's exactly what we had," Cheney said.

The vice president has been at the forefront of an effort by the Bush White House to promote an expansive view of presidential power by frequently invoking constitutional principle in refusing to hand over documents to Congress or allowing administration officials to testify before congressional committees.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22190-2005Jan19.html