David Addington
Chief of Staff to Vice President
(2005-2008)
Legal Counsel to Vice President
(2001-2005)
On September 11th, 2001, as the White House was evacuated, David Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's legal counsel, walked toward his home in Arlington, Virginia. On the way, he received an urgent message: the Vice President needs you now. Back in the White House bunker, Addington convened a videoconference of other Administration-appointed lawyers to discuss the powers the President might need to respond to the terrorist attacks. The group would expand to include Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Timothy Flanigan and William "Jim" Haynes and would secretly refer to themselves as the "War Council". Addington is a long-time adviser to Cheney, including serving as the Pentagon's general counsel when Cheney was Secretary of Defense under the first President Bush.
