Includes bibliographical references (p. 400-470) and index.

ch. 1. A very short list -- ch. 2. A different understanding -- ch. 3. Pivot points -- ch. 4. Energy in the executive -- ch. 5. Very hard and very quick -- ch. 6. Enemies, foreign and domestic -- ch. 7. Dark side -- ch. 8. Matching the science -- ch. 9. Demonstration effect -- ch. 10. Supply side -- ch. 11. Off the tracks -- ch. 12. U-turn on Constitution Avenue -- ch. 13. Nemesis -- ch. 14. Regime change -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index.

Dick Cheney changed history, defining his times and shaping a White House as no vice president has before--yet concealing most of his work from public view. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman shows how Cheney operated, why, and what he wrought. This is a work of careful, concrete, and original reporting backed by hundreds of interviews with close Cheney allies as well as rivals, many speaking candidly on the record for the first time. It is a study of the inner workings of the Bush administration and the vice president's central role as the administration's canniest power player. Gellman exposes the mechanics of Cheney's largely successful post-September 11 campaign to win unchecked power for the commander in chief, and reflects upon, and perhaps changes, the legacy that Cheney--and the Bush administration as a whole--will leave as they exit office.--From publisher description.