US Vice President Dick Cheney chose someone in his own likeness to be his new chief of staff. Like Cheney, David Addington avoids public acclaim. And like Cheney, Addington already has made a large imprint on President George W. Bush's White House.
At Cheney's side since the 1980s, Addington has been a behind-the-scenes player in one after another of the sensitive and contentious situations the Bush administration has faced.
Some include: the investigation into the leak of an undercover CIA officer's name, the fight not to disclose which corporations advised the White House on energy policy, the dispute over the treatment of suspected terrorists, and the White House disagreements with the commission that investigated intelligence failures surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks and with the Senate Intelligence Committee over the release of documents. Cheney tapped Addington after Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's former chief of staff, was indicted in the CIA leak investigation.
Addington, who previously was the vice president's lawyer, was special assistant to the secretary of defense when Cheney led the Pentagon during the presidency of Bush's father, George H.W. Bush.
In some respects, Addington is a Cheney twin. Neither is prone to knee-jerk reactions. Each has a direct style that some interpret as blunt and unyielding. Neither is prone to expressing excessive emotion. Both prefer short meetings. Each is a voracious reader. Both are known for their work ethics and mental organizational skills.
Addington helped then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales in 2002 write a memo that argued Bush had the right to waive anti-torture laws and international treaties that provide protections to prisoners of war.
Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Colin Powell when he was secretary of state, told NPR this month that he believes the administration began to authorize procedures within the armed forces that led to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
"This started from the very beginning, when David Addington, the vice president's lawyer, was a staunch advocate of allowing the president in his capacity as commander in chief to deviate from the Geneva Conventions," Wilkerson said.
Addington, who hasn't been accused of wrongdoing in the CIA leak case, was questioned by investigators and might be called to the witness stand in connection with the case about who disclosed the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. Before she was exposed, her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, had been critical of the intelligence that the White House used to allege that former Iraqi president President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the main justification for war.
Addington was mentioned in title, not name, in the indictment. It says Libby met with Addington on July 8, 2003, in an anteroom of the vice president's office and asked him "what paperwork there would be a the CIA if an employee's spouse undertook an overseas trip."
Senator Chuck Schumer said he thinks Cheney's decision to make Addington his chief of staff and John Hannah his national security adviser shows a "bunker mentality."
"There were many reports that they were involved in discussions with the vice president, with Scooter Libby, about Ms. Plame, about her classified position and about what to do with it," Schumer said.
He has demanded that Addington and Hannah disclose any role they might have played.
Addington, 48, has been a major player in Cheney's office since January 2001. Before that, he held positions at the CIA, the Defense Department, the White House and congressional committees on intelligence and foreign affairs.
In the private sector, Addington practiced law with two firms and was senior vice president and general counsel for the American Trucking Association. He is married and has three daughters.
Some people who have worked with Addington say privately that he can be stubborn or unyielding.
Sean O'Keefe, who worked with Addington at the Pentagon, called him a "taskmaster" whose entrance into a room was a signal to listen up.
"He never lingered. He'd just walk in a room and -- bang. That was the signal for all work to stop because he never did that for frivolous reasons," O'Keefe said.
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