Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September/October 2006, pages 38, 81

Special Report

“Cheney’s Cheney”: David Addington—the Administration’s Hard-Line Invisible Man

By Richard H. Curtiss

DAVID ADDINGTON, who on Oct. 28, 2005 replaced the indicted I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby as Vice President Richard Cheney’s chief of staff, has been described by U.S. News and World Report as “the most powerful man you’ve never heard of.” He has left almost no public paper trail, does not speak to the press, and allows no photographs to be taken for news stories.

Addington is dubbed by his enemies as “Cheney’s Cheney.” He is commendable in that he rides Washington, DC’s Metro to work, works long hours and peruses every decision, checking for any glitches before the Bush administration signs off on them—in other words, the perfect detail man. He has been Cheney’s chief of staff and principal legal adviser for many years.

The only problem is that Cheney, who once was considered a straight shooter, has turned mean, crabbed and generally unpleasant. Worse yet, his attorney is even more hard-line and ruthless than Cheney himself—if that’s possible. Once Cheney became George W. Bush’s vice president, Addington helped oversee the transition, setting up the most powerful vice presidency in American history. Addington told a boyhood friend, Leonard Napolitano, that he and Cheney were merging the vice president’s office with the president’s into a single “Executive Office,” instead of having “two different camps.” “David said that Cheney saw the vice president as the executive and implementer of the president,” Napolitano added.

That arrangement ensures that nothing escapes Cheney’s or Addington’s attention.

Much of the available information on Addington comes from Jane Mayer’s article, “The Hidden Power: The Legal Mind Behind the White House’s War on Terror” published in the July 3, 2006 issue of The New Yorker. According to Mayer, former Pentagon lawyer Richard Shiffrin, who until 2003 was deputy general counsel for intelligence, described Addington as particularly doctrinaire and ideological, saying, “He doesn’t listen. He knows the answers.” Addington’s manner in meetings, Shiffrin added, was “very insistent and very loud.”

Elaborated Shiffrin: “He insisted, for instance, on maintaining the admissibility of statements obtained through coercion, or even torture. He thinks that if the president wants torture he should get torture. He always argued for ‘maximum flexibility.’” In Shiffrin’s opinion, Addington was “an unopposable force.”

The Supreme Court recently came down hard on Washington’s lack of constraints in adhering to the Geneva Conventions. Still, however, the battle rages between Cheney and Addington’s interpretations and those who, fortunately, continue to call for some degree of moderation.

Administration lawyers dismissed the Geneva Conventions as “obsolete,” “quaint,” and irrelevant to the war on terror. A National Security lawyer said, “It’s obvious that Addington runs the whole operation.”

A former administration official recalled Addington as being “the dominant voice. It was a non-debate, in his view.” The lawyer added, “He’s a bully, pure and simple.”

Addington did lose one internal battle in June,when the Bush administration rescinded the provision allowing coerced testimony during military trials after even the military officials overseeing trialssupported the reform.

While few people doubt Addington’s knowledge of national security law, even his admirers question his political instincts. “The only time I’ve seen him wrong is on his political judgment,” said a former colleague. “He has a tin ear for political issues.”

“He’s a very smart guy,” a senior administration legal adviser acknowledged, “but he gives no credibility to those who say these policies are hurting us around the world.”

Cheney, as we know, is always at the table, particularly when things are highly secret. And sitting right behind him, watching like a hawk, is Addington. Belatedly, the entire world has come to really fear the malign influence of Cheney and his aide.

In White House staff meetings Addington is alert to any signs of hesitation or wavering—what he would call disloyalty—from the vice president’s edicts. Colin Powell ran into this fanaticism and it probably spoiled much of his time in the State Department. “Addington is utterly ruthless,” said Lawrence Wilkerson, Powell’s former chief of staff.

When Condoleezza Rice became secretary of state in Bush’s second term, she soon discovered she had to fight to maintain some sense of moderation and be on the lookout for new vice presidential surprises. Cheney never stops pushing for extremist positions—and Addington never fails to back him up.

Without alerting then-Deputy General Counsel for Intelligence Shiffrin, for example, Addington and Cheney met with top National Security Council lawyers in the vice president’s office and told them that the president, as commander-in-chief, had the authority to override Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) statutes and not seek warrants from the special court for wire tapping.

A Secretive Keeper of Secrets

Addington seldom goes out socially, instead staying at his office until late at night to make sure that everything is buttoned up to his liking. Almost pathologically private, he keeps his office door locked at all times, colleagues say, because of the national security documents in his files.

Addington not only recalls virtually every memorandum he has written in the past 25 years, but also used to have a complete set of all his files in his house. Several years ago, however, lightning struck a power line, setting his home on fire. Much of his collection of papers and political memorabilia was burned. His wife, Cynthia, and their three daughters were fine, but the loss of his extraordinary collection reportedly was very hard for him to accept.

Addington’s father, Jerry, was an electrical engineer who graduated from West Point and received a Bronze Star in World War II. He retired as a brigadier general after 30 years of military service, which included a tour in Saudi Arabia. Upon his retirement he became a math teacher.

David Addington was born in Washington, DC in 1957. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico. Addington, too, wanted to be in the U.S. military, but chose the U.S. Naval Academy. For reasons that are not clear, he chose to leave the academy before the end of his freshman year. He later went to Georgetown University, from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1978. He then earned a law degree, with honors, from Duke University. After graduating in 1981, he married Linda Werling. They divorced and he married his current wife, Cynthia, who is a homemaker.

Addington’s first job was with the Central Intelligence Agency’s general counsel’s office, during William J. Casey’s tenure as CIA director. There he focused on curtailing the ability of Congress to interfere with intelligence gathering. Casey also regarded congressional restraints on the agency as impediments to be circumvented.

One member of Congress who has spent considerable time working with Cheney and Addington in recent years is Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. She believes that both are still fighting Watergate. “They’re focused on restoring the Nixon presidency,” she said.

Under the system Addington created, virtually all important documents relating to national security matters are seen by the vice president’s office, and Addington regularly attends White House legal meetings with the CIA and the National Security Council. After other administration advisers have presented their recommendations, to the president, Cheney has the final word—and the last word is what Bush inevitably decides upon. In fact, it has become clear that whatever Bush decides upon is based primarily on Cheney’s recommendations.

Cheney has mastered the art of repeating the same statement over and over—regardless of the facts—on the premise that sheer repetition will carry the day. The vice president also “cherry-picked” findings of his choosing even when other advisers pointed out they were not true.

He can be seen in action regarding the recent decision by the Supreme Court, which, by a margin of 5 to 3, called on the Bush administration to cease its harsh treatment of prisoners at Guatanamo Bay and other jails in the so-called “war on terror.” It is likely that Cheney will continue to advocate the most draconian measures, however, and to insist that, regardless of the Court’s ruling to the contrary, the law was correctly interpreted by the new and improved executive branch.

In the opinion of historian and former White House aide Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.: “As for the administration’s legal defense of torture, which Addington played a central role in formulating, no position taken has done more damage to the American reputation in the world—ever.”

Indeed, it will take many years for the United States to rinse out the stain on American justice that has resulted from Bush and Cheney’s—and Addington’s—transgressions.

Richard H. Curtiss is executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

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