In a new book about the Bush administration, former Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill describes Vice President Dick Cheney as a leader of a "praetorian guard" around the president, cutting him off from dissenting opinions.
In his first public comments on the book, "The Price of Loyalty," by journalist Ron Suskind, Cheney described O'Neill as "a big disappointment."
"I was a big advocate of his, without question. And it's turned out to be a big disappointment," Cheney said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. "It's too bad. I wish it hadn't turned out that way."
Cheney had long ties to O'Neill, having worked with him in the Nixon and Ford administrations, when O'Neill was a top official at the Office of Management and Budget. It was Cheney who recommended O'Neill for the job of Treasury secretary, and it was Cheney who in 2002 told O'Neill he was fired.
"I like Paul; I've known him for 30 years. We were friends. The relationship is a little strained now, partly because I also had to give him the word that his services were no longer needed," Cheney said.
Cheney said O'Neill was picked as Treasury secretary because he had years of corporate experience as the chief executive of Alcoa, as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of the federal budget. But in the end, Cheney said, O'Neill didn't mesh with the rest of the White House.
"It's one of those things that happens periodically. You put a round peg in a square hole, and it didn't work," he said.
"This was a case where, clearly, it wasn't working, it was time to make a change, so we made the change."
"Paul has had his say," Cheney added. "I disagree with his analysis, obviously. But he's had his day. I feel badly for him, to some extent, that he has ended his career on this note. That's his choice."
The interview was conducted Thursday under a White House embargo that ended today.
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'I Think the Jury Is Still Out'
Excerpts from Vice President Dick Cheney's interview with the Los Angeles Times and USA Today:
On the Democratic candidates for president:
"I think they're having trouble, as I watch. I think they started out with an effort to try to use the economy against us. They've spent a lot of time talking about the economy. The economy's looking pretty good. Things are currently moving in the right direction....
