Little, Brown and Company, 2023

In the year 2000, Vice President Al Gore did not immediately concede the presidential election. Instead, he took the vote count all the way to the Supreme Court, which finally declared George W. Bush the winner. At that point, Gore conceded the election.

On moving day Dick Cheney, the new vice president, and his family arrived at the vice president’s home in Washington, D.C. Gore, dressed in a suit and tie, came out and welcomed them warmly. When the Cheneys asked why he was so dressed up, Gore replied that he had to go over and certify the election of his opponent.

Liz Cheney, the author of “Oath and Honor,” doesn’t remember any rancor in the exchange, especially when contrasted with the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop the vote certification procedure outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

Like Gore, President Donald Trump had pursued a recount of the election through the courts, and had lost 61 out of 62 times.

When you think about Liz Cheney, she would seem the least likely person to join Democrats in condemning the former president. She represented Wyoming as a Republican representative from 2017 to 2023 and chaired the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021.

Yet she unflinchingly agreed to serve as vice chair on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol. This meant she hado work closely with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom many considered the sworn enemy of the Republican Party.

Some Democrats were dubious about having Cheney serve on the committee. According to “Oath and Honor,” aides compiled a list of nasty things Cheney had said about Pelosi and presented her with them.

The Speaker’s response was “Why are you bothering me with unimportant things?”

What Pelosi and Cheney had in common was loyalty to the Constitution of the United States. Cheney knew that by serving on the committee, she was putting her political life – and possibly her own life – in danger. Indeed, she lost her bid for re-election in 2022.

In interviews and in her book, Cheney comes across as a straight shooter. She builds her story in chronological order, telling about her experience of being moved out of harm’s way during the Jan. 6 attack, the vote count which finally took place, and the aftermath.

When you take on the task of writing a memoir, you run the risk of being accused of trying to make it all about you. Yet it’s undeniable that Cheney was an important part of the January 6 Committee. Her book brings a fresh and thorough perspective to an event that will be studied by historical scholars for many years.