Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Arts & Culture

Dick Cheney: A Heartbeat Away

Vice President Dick Cheney speaks to a crowd of service members on Balad Air Base, Iraq, March 18, 2008. Cheney was in the area visiting with service members deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Julianne Showalter
Vice President Dick Cheney speaks to a crowd of service members on Balad Air Base, Iraq, March 18, 2008. Cheney was in the area visiting with service members deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Airs Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 9:45 p.m. on KPBS TV

Dick Cheney forcefully defends the Bush administration’s War on Terror, both in the Middle East and on American soil. “Things change; time travels on,” he says. “It’s up to me and others who participated to explain what we did and why.”

Dick Cheney meets with Prince Sultan, Minister of Defence and Aviation in Saudi Arabia, Dec. 1, 1990.
By Master Sgt. Jose Lopez Jr. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Dick Cheney meets with Prince Sultan, Minister of Defence and Aviation in Saudi Arabia, Dec. 1, 1990.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shares a laugh with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney during his farewell parade at the Pentagon, Dec. 15, 2006.
Courtesy of Cherie A. Thurlby [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shares a laugh with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney during his farewell parade at the Pentagon, Dec. 15, 2006.

This 90-minute documentary film tells the story of the man historians have dubbed the most powerful vice president in the history of the United States. Former Vice President Dick Cheney recounts the story in his own words, reflecting on his modest upbringing in Casper, Wyoming, his lifelong high-risk heart problems, and his assessment of the world leaders he dealt with. In intimate detail, he recalls the attack on Sept. 11, 2001 that shook the world, and reveals details of the crisis never told before.

Other voices lend perspective: Wyoming friends who have known Dick Cheney his entire life, journalists critical of his grip on the levers of power, and first-hand observers of his near half a century in politics and government. From this emerges a well-rounded portrait of one of the most powerful men of the last century, who escapes the world's scrutiny and controversy today the way he did as a young man: with a fly rod on a Wyoming river.

Advertisement

Produced by Wyoming PBS. Executive Producer is Ruby Calvert; Producer/Writer: Geoff O'Gara; Associate Producer: Virginia Moore; Director of Photography: Kyle Nicholoff; Additional Videography: Peter Mallamo; Editor: Kyle Nicholoff