34 "Look at the chain of command": Graham, By His Own Rules, 551.

35 "This is the end of the presidency": Steve Schmidt, author interview.

36 "primarily symbolic": Dick Cheney, In My Time, 430.

37 "I asked Dick if he'd be": Gellman, Angler, 32930.

38 "Get the fuck off television": Chertoff interview.

39 "You do whatever you": Ibid.

40 had become "insubordinate": Brown and Schwarz, Deadly Indifference, 2034.

41 cost 1,833 lives, did $108 billion in damage: Richard D. Knabb, Jamie R. Rhome, and Daniel Brown, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina, National Hurricane Center. First published December 20, 2005; updated September 14, 2011.

42 "it was the worst moment": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 326.

43 "one of the largest": George W. Bush, address to nation, Jackson Square, New Orleans, September 15, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050915-8.html.

44 ultimately steered $126 billion: White House Fact Sheet, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/katrina/. The United States spent $13 billion on the Marshall Plan from 1948 to 1951. Converted into modern dollars, that would be anywhere between $100 billion and $124 billion. As a share of the economy, however, the Marshall Plan was still significantly larger, roughly 5 percent of the gross domestic product of its time compared with 1 percent for the Katrina aid.

45 "Can you believe they're": Person in the room, author interview.

46 "Look, we got another": Dennis Hastert, author interview.

47 "If there is a nuclear explosion": Christopher Hill, author interview.

48 Bush was in bed: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 9799.

49 While Cheney briefly floated: Toobin, The Nine, 97.

50 "No white guys": Crawford Greenburg, Supreme Conflict, 245.

51 "We looked at every female appellate judge": William Kelley, author interview.

52 "If you nominate Harriet": Ibid., 25657.

53 "What do you mean me?": Peter Baker, "Once More, Bush Turns to His Inner Circle," Washington Post, October 4, 2005.

54 "that schoolmarm voice": Amy Goldstein and Peter Baker, "For Miers, Proximity Meant Power," Washington Post, October 13, 2005.

55 "You probably aren't going": Dick Cheney, In My Time, 324.

56 "This is going to be a real": Leonard Leo, author interview.

57 "A good, heated debate": Gillespie, Winning Right, 21718.

58 confirmed 78 to 22: U.S. Senate roll call record, September 29, 2005, http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00245.

59 Thompson said no: Gillespie, Winning Right, 212. Fred Thompson said in an e-mail exchange with the author that he did not recall the exchange but had no reason to question it either.

60 "if there's a qualified": Gillespie, Winning Right, 212.

61 "Leonard, are you there?": Leo interview.

62 "exceptionally well suited": George W. Bush, announcement of Harriet Miers nomination, October 3, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051003.html.

63 "reaction of many conservatives": Peter Baker and Amy Goldstein, "Nomination Was Plagued by Missteps from the Start," Washington Post, October 28, 2005.

64 "I'm confident that she": Dick Cheney, interview with Rush Limbaugh, October 3, 2005, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1495840/posts.

65 "the best person I could find": George W. Bush, news conference, October 4, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051004-1.html.

66 "She's the president's": David Keene, e-mail exchange with author.

67 "There is a whiff of sexism": Peter Baker and Dan Balz, "Conservatives Confront Bush Aides," Washington Post, October 6, 2005. See also Gillespie, Winning Right, 21415.

68 "Are you saying people": Richard Lessner, e-mail exchange with author. See also Gillespie, Winning Right, 21314.

69 "I've had five 'trust-mes' ": Baker and Balz, "Conservatives Confront Bush Aides."

70 "What's different about": Ibid.

71 "I do not care about them": Burck interview.

72 "So, in this particular": Administration official, author interview.

73 "she literally knew nothing": Ibid.

74 "They wouldn't let us": Boyden Gray, author interview.

75 "Harriet, you're going to": Crawford Greenburg, Supreme Conflict, 27879. A spokesman for Jeff Sessions confirmed the account in an e-mail exchange with the author.

76 "Harriet, you flunked": Ibid. A spokesman for Tom Coburn confirmed the account in an e-mail exchange with the author.

77 "Dan, we can't do this": Bartlett interview.

78 "We cannot put her through": Ibid.

79 "You have to withdraw": Crawford Greenburg, Supreme Conflict, 28384.

80 "self-determination": Jo Becker, "In Speeches from 1990s, Clues About Miers Views," Washington Post, October 26, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/25/AR2005102502038.html.

81 Bush was working in his office: Notes taken by White House official, provided to author.

82 "If I had it to do over again": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 99101.

83 "I tried to tell him": Senior administration official, author interview.

CHAPTER 24: "YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PIN DROP".

1 had trouble sleeping: Dan Bartlett, author interview.

2 "You could have heard a pin": Scott McClellan, author interview.

3 indictment on five counts: United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby, October 28, 2005, http://www.justice.gov/archive/osc/documents/libby_indictment_28102005.pdf.

4 "essentially to disable the vice president": Cheney aide, author interview.

5 "all White House staffers": Peter Baker, "Bush Vows to Keep Focus on His Political Agenda," Washington Post, October 29, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102802189.html.

6 "The lowest point that I": Peter Wehner, author interview.

7 "The only hurt I ever saw": Alan Simpson, author interview.

8 "Her stock went out of the roof": Bartlett interview.

9 only "froth" in certain: Nell Henderson, "Bernanke: There's No Housing Bubble to Go Bust," Washington Post, October 27, 2005.

10 winnowed the list: The other finalists were Greg Mankiw and Stephen Friedman, both former White House economists under Bush; John Taylor, a former Treasury Department official; and Martin Feldstein, once Ronald Reagan's economics adviser. Wessel, In Fed We Trust, 8284.

11 "strong economic fundamentals": Henderson, "Bernanke."

12 "We are on the defensive": Lindsey Graham, author interview.

13 "Basically, they told me": Aide to John McCain, author interview.

14 "We had hardly started": Dick Cheney, In My Time, 35861.

15 the Senate voted 90 to 9: U.S. Senate roll call record, October 5, 2005, http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00249.

16 He reminded her that: John Bellinger, author interview.

17 the CIA had been holding: Dana Priest, "CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons," Washington Post, November 2, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110101644.html. While the story omitted the names of Eastern European "black site" prisons, it reported that the CIA had run covert prisons at various points in eight different countries, including Afghanistan and Thailand.

18 Even Bush had not been: Michael Hayden, author interview.

19 human rights activists: Human Rights Watch examined flight records to track CIA airplanes making direct flights from Afghanistan to Poland and Romania. Human Rights Watch, Statement on U.S. Secret Detention Facilities in Europe, November 7, 2005, http://www.hrw.org/news/2005/11/06/human-rights-watch-statement-us-secret-detention-facilities-europe. But Poland was never confirmed as a site for the prisons. In his book The Way of the Knife, Mark Mazzetti reported that Romania and Lithuania definitely hosted the prisons.

20 "Two thousand and eight!": Dick Cheney, address to Frontiers of Freedom 2005 Ronald Reagan Gala, November 16, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051116-10.html.

21 "I'm sorry we couldn't be": Ibid.

22 "It's patriotic as heck": George W. Bush, news conference, Gyeongju, South Korea, November 17, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051117.html.

23 "We need a commander in chief": Harry Reid, transcript of floor remarks released by his office, November 17, 2005.

24 "a flawed policy wrapped": John Murtha, news conference, U.S. Capitol, November 17, 2005, Federal News Service transcript.

25 "The place where I did": Cheney, oral history, Miller Center.

26 "endorsing the policy positions": Scott McClellan, written statement, November 18, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051118.html.

27 "That was the beginning of keeping": Nicolle (Devenish) Wallace, author interview.

28 "Congressman Murtha is a fine": George W. Bush, remarks to travel pool, Beijing, November 20, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051120-9.html.

29 "We may be running out": Administration official, author interview.

30 "big screaming match": Second administration official, author interview.

31 "Karl kicks the shit out of me": Third administration official, author interview.

32 key to support even when: Peter Baker and Dan Balz, "Bush Words Reflect Public Opinion Strategy," Washington Post, June 30, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062902792_pf.html.

33 "National Strategy for Victory": White House document, November 30, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html#part1.

34 "We will never back down": George W. Bush, speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, November 30, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051130-2.html.

35 "Since the inception": George W. Bush, speech and question-and-answer session, Philadelphia, December 12, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051212-4.html.

36 casualties between 27,383: Peter Baker, "Bush Estimates Iraqi Death Toll in War at 30,000," Washington Post, December 13, 2005. Iraq Body Count tabulated casualties based on media reports and hospital, morgue, NGO, and official figures. The British journal Lancet did an epidemiological study estimating 100,000 deaths in the first eighteen months of the war, based on door-to-door interviews in selected neighborhoods extrapolated nationwide. The Lancet methodology was the subject of fierce debate.

37 analysts who "were slack-jawed": Philip Taubman, author interview.

38 planning to disclose the NSA program: Risen, State of War.

39 "I know what it's like": Several participants, author interviews.

40 the case of a would-be terrorist: The discussion referred to Iyman Faris, a naturalized American citizen from Kashmir who admitted meeting with al-Qaeda leaders and plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge in 2002. Faris cased the bridge and researched "gas cutters" to sever its suspension cables. But according to the Justice Department, he eventually concluded that the plan "was unlikely to succeed because of the bridge's security and structure" and notified al-Qaeda. After his arrest, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2003 to twenty years in prison for conspiracy and providing material support and resources to al-Qaeda. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2003/October/03_crm_589.htm.

41 "blood on our hands": Bill Keller, author interview.

42 "Whatever you think of Bush": Ibid.

43 Bush and Cheney felt betrayed: White House officials were convinced that the Times posted the story before actually notifying them that it would run, despite their agreement. Bill Keller maintains the story did not go up on the Web site until after the call but agrees "we did cut it pretty close." Some of the confusion apparently stems from the time stamp on the Web story; the time listed reflected the time it was put into the Times's internal system rather than the time it actually appeared on the site, so White House officials believed it had been posted earlier than it actually had been. Either way, Philip Taubman regretted the way it was handled. "I felt we hadn't delivered on our promise to give them some warning," he said.

44 The story, under the headline: James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts," New York Times, December 16, 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?pagewanted=all.

45 "Maybe you should quit": Frederick Jones, author interview.

46 "a vital tool in our war": George W. Bush, radio address, December 16, 2005, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051217.html.