“Cheney’s Law” is an episode of the PBS news program, Frontline, that explores Dick Cheney’s fight for broad and unfettered presidential powers. Other resources are also available on the website, including extended interviews and documents that were mentioned in the documentary. Themes in the program included Cheney’s unitary vision of the executive branch, intensive pursuit of secrecy, and “above the law” attitude with regard to the president and many, if not all, of the agencies under his control, such as the CIA, NSA, and FBI.

Cheney’s involvement in the pursuit of executive powers began in the Ford administration, when Congress enacted many new laws to restrain the president, prompted by the Watergate scandal. Cheney said at that time that “Congress unduly burdened the president.” When he worked for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, he argued that the president did not need Congress’s approval to carry out programs like Iran-Contra (Garrison, 2014). As Secretary of Defense for President George H.W. Bush, Cheney stated that Bush did not need Congress’s approval for the Gulf War, either, because the Constitution did not require it.

Eight years later, Cheney was elected vice-president under George W. Bush, taking with him his lawyer, David Addington, who would prove to be a valuable ally; for example, when the 9-11 attacks occurred, Addington and John Yoo, of the Office of Legal Counsel, agreed that in such an emergency “rule by men rather than by laws” was absolutely necessary. Although a bill granting extensive presidential powers failed in Congress, Cheney and his lawyer sought an opinion from the Justice Department, i.e. John Yoo, who wrote a memo stipulating that Congress could not stop the commander-in-chief from the performance of his duties (Silverstein, 2009).

From the beginning, Cheney pursued secrecy; when a completely noncontroversial energy task force met only days after the inauguration, Cheney refused to name the participants. Later, Justice Department memos granting unitary executive power in every area, including wiretapping of American citizens and interrogation by torture (Hentoff, 2012), were kept secret as long as possible. The same was true of “signing statements” written by Addington to dilute and sometimes contradict the text of laws that were passed by Congress and signed by Bush (Bradley & Posner, 2006).

Another theme was Cheney’s belief that the executive branch, specifically the presidency, was above the law. In order to fulfill his belief, he often went around established procedures to obtain “permission” or to avoid even asking for it. For example, when Alberto Gonzales, Bush’s Attorney General, turned the question of how to treat “terrorist” prisoners over to the State Department, Cheney saw the need to act quickly, before the State Department’s committee had a chance to make recommendations. Addington wrote a memo which was taken directly to Bush before he left on a trip; within a short time signatures were obtained and the memo, which established a military commission and a secret tribunal to deal with potential terrorists, was put into effect (Paust, 2007). Procedure was not followed — the explanation was that the issue needed to be decided immediately and could not wait until the president returned — and individuals who had been bypassed were astonished and angry, but there was nothing that could be done (Marshall, 2008).

The program, overall, gave a good presentation of the issues surrounding Cheney and the powers of the presidency. There were two people in favor of Cheney’s views (John Yoo and Bradford Berenson) who were represented in the program, and more of those would have made it less biased against Cheney. However, at the end, it was noted that requests for interviews with Bradbury (a supporter), Addington, and Cheney himself were refused, so it appeared that PBS had made an effort to tell both sides.

The pace of the film seemed a bit too fast, probably because it covered so much ground. Persons being interviewed were not named every time they appeared, which was somewhat confusing. Also, the number of agencies (often identified by acronyms), places, and people who were mentioned could be a roadblock to understanding for a person not already familiar with them. With regard to branches of government and executive agencies, diagrams would have been helpful, even if they only appeared on the website.

The materials that were on the website were illuminating, since they went into greater detail. However, the number of people reading them might be limited. This program may have been better as a 90 min. – 2 hr. presentation, since this would slow the pace but also allow for additional information.