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January 7, 2009 4:15 PM

Cheney Dismisses "Urban Legend"

Posted by Mark Knoller
(CBS)
By CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller

Nearing the end of eight years as Vice President, Dick Cheney bluntly dismissed the frequent suggestion that he was the one calling the shots in the White House.

“It’s an urban legend,” he said. “It never happened.”

In a radio interview with CBS News, Cheney decried reports to the contrary, viewing them as the biggest misimpression about his relationship with President Bush.

“This whole notion that somehow I exceeded my authority here, was usurping his authority, was simply not true.”

Cheney said “there was never any question about who was in charge: it was George Bush and that’s how we operated.”

Asked what the biggest misimpression people have about him, Cheney cracked a smile.

“I’m actually a warm, lovable sort,” he said with tongue in cheek – before conceding he’d have to give that question some additional thought.

Listen to portions of the Cheney Interview:

  • Cheney: I'll Miss Being VP
  • Cheney On Career Highlights
  • Cheney On The VP Job

    For more on Knoller's interview with Cheney, including how he feels about being left out of the presidential gathering at the White House today, Click here.
    • Tags:
    dick cheney ,
    vice president ,
    barack obama ,
    white house ,
    mark knoller
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    Dick Cheney
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    Add a Comment See all 84 Comments
    by ausus-2009 January 8, 2009 9:26 PM EST
    yesbama1,

    Just remember Carter was a one-term President. He was so incompetent that even Eugene McCarthy voted against him. Looking at his inexperience and poor choice of cabinet appointments, I see Obama in the same class.
    Reply to this comment
    by antoniof123 January 8, 2009 5:55 PM EST
    I don''t think you wing nuts get it we are not liberals we are really middle of the road and we have rejected you.

    You were warned to moderate but you didn''t listen you though 2006 was a fluke. What is funny you think 2008 is a fluke too.

    I wonder what you will be saying in 2010 that it is a fluke too.

    We are tired of your nonsense find a common ground or we will continue to moderate you.
    Reply to this comment
    by khanghi-2009 January 8, 2009 5:41 PM EST
    sethw76,

    "I know that the Constitution has changed over the years with amendments (including stupid ones like prohibition)and there have been interpretations, but I maintain that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate Obama''''s brand of socialism.

    To advocate what he has and mention the Constitution in the same breath is showing contempt for the Constitution."


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Posted by ausus at 07:47 PM : Jan 07, 2009

    Yeah! YOU''RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Just look at the way Obama bailed out the crooked bankers and investment firms and basically bought out the auto makers with taxpayer money! Now THAT''S socialism and...uh, wait. That was Bush & company wasn''t it?

    nevermind...
    Reply to this comment
    by walt1944-2009 January 8, 2009 12:34 PM EST
    It has been learned that soon-to-be Ex-VP Darth Vader Cheney is denying that he "called the shots" in the White House, in effect putting the blame for EVERYTHING that has happened at the feet of the Great Emperor Bush II!

    Given that the Great Emperor Bush II had problems remembering things like his own name and putting together 2 sentences that made logical sense, it seems unlikely that the Great Emperor Bush II could be blamed for EVERYTHING!

    History tells us that behind every would-be dictator, there has always been a "dark figure" who made the real decisions and signed all the orders, then when things fell apart, tried to escape without getting caught.

    Cheney fits that bill perfectly!

    SIG HEIL, I WAS TOO STUPID TO EVEN TIE MY SHOES!!!, BUSH!!!

    Reply to this comment
    by niceface19 January 8, 2009 2:46 AM EST
    Cheney to the white house is like al davis to the Raiders
    Reply to this comment
    by lemonskink January 8, 2009 1:23 AM EST
    Cheney is an urban legend much like Sasquatch. He''s an evil doer:

    http://www.ronnierayjenkins.com/topics/deathinappalachia/Empty_Chairs/
    Reply to this comment
    by ausus-2009 January 8, 2009 1:18 AM EST
    QuapawSix,

    What makes you think your IQ is not closer to the moron level than theirs?

    Your university degree is from where?
    Reply to this comment
    by rushlimpdrug January 8, 2009 1:17 AM EST

    . . and so we are suppose to sleep
    better knowing the reeetard Bush
    is running the country?

    Thanks a lot *** c.

    Isn''t it hunting season somewhere?

    Reply to this comment
    by quapawsix January 8, 2009 1:14 AM EST
    I''ll be glad to stand at the driveway of the White House and wave these two morons a fond farewell. So hurry up and leave.
    Reply to this comment
    by newslink January 8, 2009 1:02 AM EST
    Cheney Is the Urban Legend....For four years, I was begining to think. Who is the V.P? And why was he in Hiding......
    Reply to this comment
    by quapawsix January 8, 2009 12:48 AM EST
    F**k Chenny
    Reply to this comment
    by boatdocster January 8, 2009 12:48 AM EST
    Cheney will continue to feed the GOP Snow (*****) Blower (or is that the GOP shredder; maybe both) until the day the show his sorry backside out of the Naval Observatory.
    Reply to this comment
    by nojoy01 January 8, 2009 12:45 AM EST
    And Oklahoma City. But that was not foreign terrorists, that was the result of our homegrown brand of psychos.
    Reply to this comment
    by nojoy01 January 8, 2009 12:39 AM EST
    And before you say there is a difference because babies are a direct result of (the forbidden word), guess what, the NEXT terrorist attack WILL happen, it is just a matter of when & where & how big the body count is. All the things we have done post 9/11 can not stop it, just delay until some one manages to figure out how to ''get through'' the defenses.
    Reply to this comment
    by dj_houston January 8, 2009 12:37 AM EST
    Republican defenders of Cheney/Bush like to say they protected us from attacks for 7 years after 9/11, but they forget that we had no attacks for 7 years BEFORE Bush was installed as President. So Bush spent a whole lot of our tax money for nothing.

    Posted by endrepubs

    Um, let me see. The world Trade Center bombing in 1993, and the USS COLE bombing
    Reply to this comment
    by nojoy01 January 8, 2009 12:34 AM EST
    Republican defenders of Cheney/Bush like to say they protected us from attacks for 7 years after 9/11, but they forget that we had no attacks for 7 years BEFORE Bush was installed as President. So Bush spent a whole lot of our tax money for nothing.

    Posted by endrepubs at 08:18 PM : Jan 07, 2009

    I am not a defender of nor a fan of the Bush/Cheney combo, & I will not try to defend any claims made by repubs, but your logic is really ''in the weeds''. If your logic is correct then the woman who has her first child at thirty does not need to take birth control because she did not have a child for 30 years before?? WOW Think of all the wasted birth control pills taken.
    Reply to this comment
    by idnnsg January 8, 2009 12:06 AM EST
    "I maintain that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate Obama''s brand of socialism." - ausus

    Have you paid ANY attention to what Bush has done? Under Bush, the US government has taken ownership of several private banks! What is wrong with you repukes that you have to spend all of your time complaining about what you IMAGINE Obama will do, before he even takes office, while your "fearless leader" is a prime example of everything you fear and hate?

    Repukes say they are for "less government". Bush increased the federal bureaucracy more than ANY president in the history of this country. Repukes say they are for "sound fiscal management". Bush borrowed more money than ANY president in the history of this country, literally bankrupting us! Repukes say they are against "nation building", but Bush wasted TRILLIONS of dollars trying to fix Iraq, after HE broke it! Repukes say they are for "freedom", but Bush has eliminated the right to privacy by illegally wiretapping the entire country! Etc., etc. There seems to be no end to the perfidy of GW Bush, traitor the US Constitution and the people of the United States of America.

    Repukes are the ultimate HATERS. They can''t face their own failures, so they simply ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK... like the little green men in movie "Mars Attacks!"

    My recommendation to all the little repukes: You''ve got nothing to offer, so SDASTFU.
    Reply to this comment
    by ausus-2009 January 7, 2009 11:13 PM EST
    starleo14672,

    Obama hasn''t taken office yet but we know what he has to say and we know what his proposed Cabinet members have to say so I would expect if what he does isn''t in line with what he has said so far you will come back in 12 months and call him a liar.
    Reply to this comment
    by tawpdawg111 January 7, 2009 11:00 PM EST
    Listen to portions of the Cheney Interview:
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    No thanks
    Reply to this comment
    by starleo146 January 7, 2009 10:52 PM EST

    How is criticizing Obama before he even steps into the White House being a realist?

    Realists compile facts, not predictions about the future.

    Your dire predictions about what Obama is or isn''''t going to do doesn''''t make you a realist, they make you a fatalist. LOL.

    Posted by AaaBee1 at 07:37 PM : Jan 07, 2009

    This is a Republican trait, they did it from day one to Clinton, but now they are doing it before Obama takes office. They just need to take there lumps, and just shut up, sick of the negativity.
    Reply to this comment
    See all 84 Comments

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