The Great Rift; Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship That Defined an Era

Mann, James

ISBN 10: 1627797556 / ISBN 13: 9781627797559

Published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2020

About this Item

xii, 416, [4] pages. Notes. Index. Inscribed by the author on the title page. The inscription reads: "To Gary, an old friend over the years. J Mann 1/25/20". Dick Cheney and Colin Powell--it is easy to forget that they were once allies. The two men collaborated closely in the successful American wars in Panama and Iraq during the presidency of George H. W. Bush. However, conflicts of ideology and sensibility drove them apart. Under George W. Bush, they fell into ever-deepening antagonism over the role America should play in a world marked by terrorism and other nontraditional threats. In a wide-ranging, deeply researched, and dramatic narrative, James Mann explores each man's biography and philosophical predispositions to show how and why this deep and permanent rupture occurred. He brings to life the very human story of how this influential friendship turned so sour and how the enmity of these two powerful men colored the way America acts in the world. James Mann (born 1946) is a journalist and author. As a newspaper journalist, he worked for more than two decades for the Los Angeles Times, where he served as Supreme Court correspondent, Beijing bureau chief, and foreign-policy columnist. Earlier in his career, he worked at The Washington Post, where he was part of the newspaper's Watergate coverage. His magazine articles have appeared in The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly and The American Lawyer. His 1992 article, "Who Was Deep Throat?", was included in The Atlantic Monthly's collection, "The American Idea: The Best of The Atlantic Monthly. Derived from a Kirkus review: A useful review of the hard-right shift of U.S. foreign policy since the end of the Cold War, delivered via a comparative study of two of the seminal players. As Mann shows in this illuminating dual biography and history lesson, early on in their careers, Colin Powell and Dick Cheney both hitched their stars to top government insiders who helped propel them to the highest levels of power. Powell, the amiable, popular soldier, was an aide to both Frank Carlucci and Casper Weinberger at the Defense Department and National Security Councilâ "before becoming national security adviser in 1987. Cheney became Donald Rumsfeld's aide during Gerald Ford's brief administration before assuming the role of White House chief of staff. Both men achieved stellar appointments during George H.W. Bush's administration and led a "good war" that expelled Iraq from Kuwait while agreeing not to extend the war into Baghdad. Yet it was in George W. Bush's administration that the twoâ "Cheney as VP, Powell as secretary of stateâ "began to diverge in thinking and action. Cheney's "blueprint" was essentially to keep the U.S. as the world's dominant military superpower after the collapse of the Soviet Union and actively "block" any hostile rival. Powell maintained a centrist position and urged caution and restraint, especially regarding another war with Iraq. Cheney pushed for aggressive "antiterrorist measures," including the controversial and ultimately self-defeating "black sites" and "enhanced interrogation" measures, while Powell emphasized working with U.S. allies. Both men would develop their own "tribes" of followers. Yet it was Powell who became the poster child for the invasion of Iraq, convinced by U.S. intelligence into making a false casus belli of Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction. The friendship was over, and the split caused deep rifts in the country at large. Still, as Mann demonstrates thoroughly in his insightful dissection of their relationship, Powell was as complicit and eager a participant in the nation's disastrous ventures as Cheney. A significant work of American history. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated].

Seller Inventory # 88516

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Great Rift; Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship That Defined an Era
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, New York
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1627797556
• ISBN 13: 9781627797559
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Mark Wilson (Jacket photograph) and Caroline E. De
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Terrorism
  • Persian Gulf War
  • George Bush

About this title

Synopsis

The Great Rift is a sweeping history of the intertwined careers of Dick Cheney and Colin Powell, whose rivalry and conflicting views of U.S. national security color our political debate to this day.

Dick Cheney and Colin Powell emerged on the national scene more than thirty years ago, and it is easy to forget that they were once allies. The two men collaborated closely in the successful American wars in Panama and Iraq during the presidency of George H. W. Bush--but from this pinnacle, conflicts of ideology and sensibility drove them apart. Returning to government service under George W. Bush in 2001, they (and their respective allies within the administration) fell into ever-deepening antagonism over the role America should play in a world marked by terrorism and other nontraditional threats.

In a wide-ranging, deeply researched, and dramatic narrative, James Mann explores each man’s biography and philosophical predispositions to show how and why this deep and permanent rupture occurred. Through dozens of original interviews and surprising revelations from presidential archives, he brings to life the very human story of how this influential friendship turned so sour and how the enmity of these two powerful men colored the way America acts in the world.

About the Author

James Mann is the author of several books on American politics and national security issues, including Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet and The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power. A longtime correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, he is currently a fellow in residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in Washington, D.C.