Brinkley on Cheney on Cheney

NY Times book review has an article by Alan Brinkley on Cheney's take on history as expressed in his recent book: check it out here.

At one point Brinkley asks (about Cheney): "What had turned this capable, pragmatic, respected figure into the harsh and belligerent man who seemed toward the end to believe that only he understood the world of his time?" I guess Brinkley is trying to be fair, but amongst people whose judgement I trust (including me), Cheney was always suspect. He was a big Reagan supporter and opponent of sanctions against apartheid in South Africa; in fact, he classified Nelson Mandela's party as terrorist (but never the apartheid parties). He was a military hawk in most matters except for certain programs (e.g. the Osprey helicopter) in which his fiscal conservatism came into play. Of course, as the representative from Wyoming, he championed mining and ranching interests -- but that is to be expected after all.

Anyway, Brinkley gives a pretty good account of Cheney and Rumsfeld in this Times piece.