The whole story in a nut:
“Dick’s major concern, one of them was, and I agree, that there needs to be a greater and more effective role for the vice president,” Marsh, a longtime Cheney friend, said in an interview. “He holds the view, as do I, that the vice president should be the chief of staff in effect, that everything should run through his office.”
In Bush, Cheney found the perfect partner. The president’s willingness to delegate left plenty of room for his more detail-oriented vice president.
“My impression is that the president thinks that the Reagan style of leadership is best — guiding the ship of state from high up on the mast,” said former White House lawyer Bradford A. Berenson. “It seems to me that the vice president is more willing to get down in the wheelhouse below the decks.”
That “decider” line sounded awfully defensive, didn’t it? For some reason I keep coming back to this. Why The Onion uses psychics for news and not for winning the lottery I will never know.