Name:______Period:______Date:______
Frontline: Cheney’s Law
1.) According to the video, Cheney is an absolute ______about executive power.
DQ: What events during the Ford, Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations shaped Dick Cheney’s views of executive branch powers?
2.) What was the understanding in the Bush administration regarding Cheney’s role?
3.) Which presidents did Cheney work with?
4.) Who is David Addington?
5.) As Secretary of Defense he stated that the President doesn’t need ______to go into the Gulf War.
DQ: David Addington and Dick Cheney have worked together for two decades and share similar views on executive power. Explain these views.
6.) Who is Alberto Gonzales? Who was considered more powerful of the executive lawyers?
7.) While in the bunker of the White House, Vice President Cheney tried to get as much ______as possible. They needed backing of the ______Department.
DQ: What did Vice President Cheney hope to accomplish by expanding presidential power after the Sept. 11 attacks?
8.) Who is John Yoo and why was he important to Vice President Cheney?
9.) What is the OLC and why is it important?
10.) What was John Yoo’s first piece of legislation regarding?
11.) What was Congress’ view about Yoo’s legislation?
12.) What did Yoo’s memo/opinion state the president could do and what was the “remarkable” part of the opinion?
DQ: Do you think the memo’s proclamation was justified? Why or why not?
DQ: What role did the Justice Department under Attorney General John Ashcroft play in deterring the Bush administration’s policies on interrogation and intelligence gathering?
13.) Who is Jack Goldsmith?
14.) What was Addington’s and Yoo’s view as to the limits of detainee interrogations? What were their definitions of torture?
15.) What was the “Crown Jewel”?
16.) Why did 30 DOJ employees want to resign?
17.) What is a Signing Statement?
18.) What did Congress want back from the Executive Branch?
19.) What did the Executive Branch (Alberto Gonzales) do when asked for information?
DQ: How does a signing statement affect a congressional law? What effect does a signing statement have on the checks and balances between Congress and the executive branch?
DQ: In which areas discussed in the program (torture, domestic wiretapping, redefining presidential authority and the use of signing statements) do you feel the president and vice president are justified in their actions? Why or why not?