30 Guelzo suggested he focus: Allen Guelzo, e-mail exchange with author.

31 "The presidency did not eat": John Lewis Gaddis, author interview.

32 "It just came out very quickly": Ibid.

CHAPTER 37: "SUCH A SENSE OF BETRAYAL".

1 he granted just 189 pardons: Office of the Pardon Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, http://www.justice.gov/pardon/statistics.htm#w-bush. Barack Obama in his first years in office was comparably stingy with pardons.

2 When the New York Daily News: John Marzulli and James Gordon Meek, "President Bush Pardons Brooklyn Home Scammer," New York Daily News, December 23, 2008, http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-12-23/news/17911607_1_pardon-attorney-ronald-rodgers-isaac-toussie-minority-homebuyers.

3 "Figure out some way": The account of the pardon deliberations, where not otherwise sourced, is based on author interviews with several administration officials and others who were involved but asked not to be named.

4 Clay Johnson, his Yale friend: Clay Johnson, e-mail exchange with author.

5 "Not a chance": Charlie Younger, author interview.

6 "The Powell-Armitage thing was": Liz Cheney, author interview.

7 "I didn't have anything to do": Richard Armitage, author interview.

8 "I'm sorry, Scooter": Joshua Bolten, author interview.

9 "I am innocent": William Burck, author interview.

10 "This sucks," Bush said: Dan Bartlett, author interview.

11 "Can I talk to you a minute?": Condoleezza Rice, author interview.

12 "Just make up your mind": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 1045.

13 "I got this list of people": Jim Langdon, author interview.

14 "the manifestation of one of our worst": Juan Carlos Zarate, author interview.

15 "Is the Secret Service going": Peter Baker, "Obama's War over Terror," New York Times Magazine, January 4, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/magazine/17Terror-t.html?pagewanted=all.

16 "Enjoyed working with you": White House memo, January 19, 2009, provided to author.

17 "many fond memories": George W. Bush, telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, January 19, 2009. Notes of call provided to author.

18 "The place was going condo": Bolten interview.

19 "Okay, I'm going over": Draper interview.

20 "It's like Noah's ark": Ibid.

21 "Cheney looked like hell": Joel Kaplan, author interview.

22 "Joe, this is how you're": Dick Cheney, In My Time, 517.

23 "I thank President Bush": Barack Obama, inaugural address, January 20, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-barack-obamas-inaugural-address.

24 "That was a hell of a speech": Peter Baker, "On Plane to Texas, Critiques of the Speech," New York Times, January 22, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/22web-baker.html.

25 "Come on, Laura": Peter Baker, "Obama Takes Oath, and Nation in Crisis Embraces the Moment," New York Times, January 21, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/politics/21inaug.html?pagewanted=all.

26 "We will brief you": David Axelrod, author interview.

27 "He looked relieved, thrilled": Draper interview.

28 "Frankly, all of us were worried": Kaplan interview.

29 "George Bush's two terms": David Addington, interview with R. J. Cutler for The World According to Dick Cheney, a documentary aired on Showtime in spring 2013.

30 "Nice plane, Mick": Mick McMurry, author interview.

31 "He was in excruciating pain": Bill Thomson, author interview.

32 "For Dick, he was pretty": McMurry interview.

33 "It was a nonstop party": Draper interview.

34 "He was very huggy": White House aide, author interview.

35 "not a word" disparaging: Baker, "On Plane to Texas."

36 "Just stay strong": Video by Ken Herman, Cox Newspapers, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI0eRJuIrT8.

37 "I have the privilege": George W. Bush, speech to supporters, Midland, Tex., January 20, 2009, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/bush_returns_to_texas.html. See also Jim Rutenberg, "Bushes Have a Warm Homecoming in Texas," New York Times, January 21, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/politics/21bush.html. Also see C-Span video, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/283465-1.

EPILOGUE: "THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND"

1 "It was designed for the two": Dick Cheney, author interview.

2 "deserves my silence": Ian Austen, "Bush Gives First Speech Since Leaving Office," New York Times, March 17, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/world/americas/18canada.html?_r=0.

3 "The American people are not": Barack Obama, speech, National Archives, May 21, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-national-security-5-21-09.

4 "In the fight against terrorism": Dick Cheney, speech, American Enterprise Institute, May 21, 2009, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22823.html.

5 "Dick feels an obligation": Bill Thomson, author interview.

6 "Cheney thought that was shameful": Stephen Hadley, author interview.

7 "Threatening to prosecute CIA": Liz Cheney, author interview.

8 "He'll never criticize Bush": David Gordon, author interview.

9 "Dick was terribly upset": Bernie Seebaum, author interview.

10 "The statute of limitations": Barton Gellman, "Cheney Uncloaks His Frustration with Bush," Washington Post, August 13, 2009, http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-08-13/politics/36798654_1_channels-of-american-policy-richard-b-cheney-john-p-hannah.

11 "This is not the right word": Bush friend, author interview.

12 back into "the swamp": Peter Baker, "Now Appearing: George W. Bush," New York Times, November 6, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/weekinreview/07baker.html.

13 "When I saw his hand go": Dinner party guest, author interview.

14 "I'm for Mitt Romney": George W. Bush made the comment on May 15, 2012, when ABC News caught up with him after an event unveiling a collection of interviews with world dissidents. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/george-w-bush-im-for-mitt-romney/.

15 "He's a golf-a-holic now": Charlie Younger, author interview.

16 "I decided I was going to get": Harrington, "Dubya and Me."

17 "I've never seen a happier": Wayne Berman, author interview.

18 "I'm often asked, do you miss": George W. Bush, joint presentation with Bill Clinton at IHS Forum at CERAWeek, Houston, March 11, 2011. The event was closed to reporters, but a transcript was provided to the author.

19 "I actually found my freedom": Peter Baker, "Bush Dips a Toe Back into Washington," New York Times, May 15, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/us/politics/george-w-bush-briefly-visits-washington.html.

20 "It was more like meeting": Valerie Jarrett, author interview.

21 "carrying out Bush's 4th term": Ari Fleischer, Twitter message, June 6, 2013. He wrote: "Drone strikes. Wiretaps. Gitmo. O is carrying out Bush's 4th term. Yet he attacked Bush 4 violating Constitution. # hypocrisy."

22 "There's no doubt that whatever": Jay Winik, author interview.

23 "In retrospect, I probably": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 259.

24 Seventy-one percent: Presidential Approval Ratings-George W. Bush, Gallup, http://www.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx.

25 Academic scholars: Presidential Expert Poll, Siena College Research Institute, July 1, 2010. The survey of 238 presidential scholars ranked Bush at 39th of the 43 presidents, down from 23rd in a 2002 survey. https://www.siena.edu/pages/179.asp?item=2566.

26 "Oh sure. I don't think": Dick Cheney, interview with Matt Lauer, Today, August 30, 2011, http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc/44328388#44328388.

27 "There's no need to defend myself": George W. Bush, interview with USA Today, April 21, 2013, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/21/george-w-bush-interview-library/2099093/.

28 "The tendency in life is to feel": Bush presentation at CERAWeek.

29 49 percent of Americans now expressing favorable views: Gallup poll, June 14, 2013, http://www.gallup.com/poll/163022/former-george-bush-image-ratings-improve.aspx.

30 "saved us from another Great Depression": John Harwood, "Fed Chairman's Departure Casts a New Light on the Bush Legacy," New York Times, July 27, 2013.

31 "Decades from now": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 47677.

32 "You're leaving as one": Former aide, author interview.

33 "I just don't think he would": Ari Fleischer, author interview. In his memoir, Rove wrote: "Would the Iraq War have occurred without WMD? I doubt it." See Courage and Consequence, 339.

34 "I'm convinced that President Bush": Richard Armitage, author interview.

35 "I am very respectful of how": Donald Rumsfeld, author interview.

36 "It breaks my heart": Karen Hughes, author interview.

37 "The first grave mistake": McClellan, What Happened, 210.

38 "You can say he made": Joseph Lieberman, author interview.

39 "If Iraq had gone well": Michael Gerson, author interview.

40 "Wall Street got drunk": George W. Bush, comments during closed fund-raiser caught on amateur video and posted on the Internet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT29fq0slGc.

41 "You have to ask the question": David Frum, author interview.

42 "intense, personal, dedicated efforts": Donna Brazile, "Brazile: Bush Came Through on Katrina," CNN.com, April 25, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/25/opinion/brazile-katrina-bush.

43 "Two years after you left": Peter Baker, "Bush and Cheney, Together Again at Groundbreaking," New York Times, November 16, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/us/politics/17bush.html?_r=0.

44 "He was a great vice president": Ibid.

45 "You know, it's been cordial": George W. Bush, interview with C-Span, aired April 24, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8gMEqiVcr0&feature=youtube.

46 "From the day I asked Dick": George W. Bush, speech at opening of George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, April 25, 2013. http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/04/25/transcript-read-fmr-president-george-w-bushs-address-library-dedication.

47 "everything went blank": Dick Cheney, In My Time, 52425.

48 "Ever since the heart transplant": Mary Cheney, conversation with author.

49 "Well, if that's true": David Hume Kennerly, author interview.

50 "Something happened in Washington": Sandy Kress, author interview.

51 "Bush had a little bit": Wayne Berman, author interview.

52 "He's his own man": Joe O'Neill, author interview.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.