2007年VOA标准英语-Cheney – Most Powerful US Vice President Ever?

By Bill Rodgers
Washington
04 July 2007
 

Vice¹ President Dick Cheney is widely considered to be the most powerful vice president in American history.  He was a key architect on the war on terror and the Iraq war and -- according to recent news reports – has played a significant role in shaping domestic policy.  More from VOA's Bill Rodgers.

Vice President Richard Cheney

As President Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney has brought a wealth of experience to the job.  A former White House chief of staff, a former congressman², and defense³ secretary under the first President Bush, Cheney knows how Washington works. And this may be why, when he ran for president in 2000, Mr. Bush chose Cheney to be his running mate. 

Stephen Hess is an expert on the presidency⁴ at the Brookings Institution.

Stephen Hess

"George W. Bush, who had no national experience, his experience was entirely⁵ as a governor of a state, chose Dick Cheney very specifically because of his very deep national experience – both as a chief of staff to a president, President Ford⁶, as secretary of defense, and as a powerful congressman in the House of Representatives. So he chose him because he knew how to run things in Washington."

The American Constitution assigns no specific role for the vice president, except to preside over the Senate and cast a vote when there is a tie.  Past vice presidents have tended to travel a lot, representing the president overseas.

Former Vice President Al Gore⁷ carved out specific areas of interest, such as the environment, to work on. 

But Cheney is especially influential⁸ and powerful.  A recent series in The Washington Post newspaper described the extent of his power. 

Norman Ornstein

Norman Ornstein is with the American Enterprise Institute. He says, "A couple of things that emerge about Dick Cheney.  The first is that he is an extraordinarily⁹ savvy¹⁰ and tough-minded bureaucratic¹¹ infighter.  He knows through decades of experience, how the buttons are pushed, how to make things happen and how to keep things from happening. What we've got is somebody with experience and savvy who has strong views, who has decided¹² to assert those views across the widest range of areas."

Areas such as the Iraq war, the interrogation and treatment of terrorist suspects, and picking potential nominees¹³ to the Supreme¹⁴ Court.

The Washington Post articles also described Cheney's impact on domestic issues, including intervening in a dispute over water use in Oregon that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of salmon¹⁵.

The personal relationship between President Bush and his vice president is unknown.  But White House spokeswoman Dana Perino recently described it this way: "I think that the president thinks of the vice president as a very close and trusted advisor¹⁶ – somebody who has nothing but the country's best interests at heart."

But the Post series and a widely-publicized attempt by Cheney to ignore an executive order on handling classified information have prompted criticism.  His reputation also suffered following the conviction of his top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby on perjury¹⁷ charges in the CIA leak case.

Political scientist Norman Ornstein adds, "Having a vice president in the loop, having a vice president act as a trusted confidante of the president, as a strong political adviser¹⁸, even as somebody with a delegated, substantive¹⁹ role, is a perfectly²⁰ good and appropriate thing.  Having a vice president who has a kind of a free rein²¹ to roam over the landscape, and who has such an expansive view of his own power and imperviousness²² to checks and balances, is pretty alarming frankly²³."

But as long as he retains the trust of the president, Dick Cheney seems likely to continue to work the levers of power in Washington. 

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

10 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

11 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

16 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

17 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

18 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

19 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

20 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

21 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

22 imperviousness   

不透性；不通透性；不透水

参考例句：

• I tried to erect a facade of imperviousness and self-confidence. 我竭力装出一幅不受外界干扰，十分自信的样子。 来自辞典例句

23 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。