Paul Schreyer: Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Continuity of Government!

"If a mandarinate ruled America, the recruiting committee on September 11 would have to find someone like Cheney." Washington Post author Barton Gellman in his book "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency." Terrorism, Emergency plans. Political careers. The history of 9/11 can be written from many angles. But whatever point of view is chosen, Dick Cheney is a central figure. "Principle is okay up to a certain point", he once said, "but principle doesn't do any good, if you lose the nomination", He's surely an elusive character. Not less than Donald Rumsfeld, his close companion. Both of their lives are inseperably bound with a dark side of recent American history. The core of the following story was originally told by the authors James Mann and Peter Dale Scott, whose thorough research is deeply appreciated. Yet a lot of background information was added. Thus a bigger picture slowly took shape, showing a plan and its actors: Cheney and Rumsfeld were an old team. Major parts of their careers they had spent together. Both had no privileged family background. Cheney's father worked as an employee for the department of agriculture, Rumsfeld's father had a job in a real estate company. The families' living conditions were modest. Both sons could go to university only with the backing of scholarships. Rumsfeld, born 1932, chose political science. He was a rather small and sturdy person, but with energetic charisma. While at university, he engaged in sport,, and was known as a successful ringer. Later Rumsfeld went to the Navy to become a pilot. The Navy had paid a part of his scholarship. At the end of the 1950s, he eventually started his career in politics as assistant of a congressman. Meanwhile, father of a young family, and following a short intermezzo at an investment bank, Rumsfeld himself ran for Congress, only at the age of 29. The prospects in his Chicago home district were unfavorable. He was inexperienced and almost without any voter base, compared to the other candidates. But the dynamic and ambitious Rumsfeld impressed some of Chicago's business leaders, such as the boss of pharma heavyweight Searle. They paid for his campaign. With this economic power in his back, also one of Chicago's newspapers supported him. Rumsfeld won the election in 1962, and went to Washington as a republican representative.