Cheney Is Still Pissed About Rumsfeld's Firing

Posted by Amanda Terkel at 12:00 PM on October 11, 2007.

This post, written by Amanda Terkel, originally appeared on Think Progress

(Rummy and Dick back in the good ol' Ford days.)

In a new interview with Fox News to be aired this Saturday, Vice President Dick Cheney reveals that he disagreed with President Bush's decision to fire Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary. Fox News reports:

Cheney said despite Rumsfeld's controversial handling of the war in Iraq, the secretary of defense was managing the war successfully.

Speaking openly with Bret Baier in the new documentary, "Dick Cheney: No Retreat," the vice president said he "thought that in terms of the way forward, Don was the right guy to continue to lead the Department of Defense."

This interview is the first time Cheney has confirmed that he disagreed with Bush's decision to fire Rumsfeld. In his biography of the Vice President that came out in July, Stephen Hayes revealed that Cheney -- when asked by staffers whether he agreed with Bush's decision -- responded "absolutely not." At Rumsfeld's farewell ceremony last December, Cheney said that Rumsfeld was the "finest Secretary of Defense this nation has ever had."

Much of Cheney's loyalty stems from the fact that Rumsfeld first hired Cheney 40 years ago. In 1969, Rumsfeld hired Cheney to "his first job in the federal government" as an assistant at the Office of Economic Opportuntiy. Five years later, Rumsfeld became White House Chief of Staff and made Cheney his deputy. "I wouldn't be where I am today if it hadn't been for what Don Rumsfeld was willing to do," Cheney said.

In a recent interview with GQ, Rumsfeld responded, "Um, no," when asked whether or not he misses Bush. But he added, "I still see Cheney."

Tagged as: bush, cheney, iraq war, bush administration, rumsfeld

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.