Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin, The Examiner
2007-03-12 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com .

Get ready for the V.P.’s bio

It won’t be long now before you can peek inside the life of that International Man of Mystery: Vice President Dick Cheney.

Yeas & Nays has learned that the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes is in the final stages of “Cheney,” his biography of the powerful and shadowy veep, and the book will hit bookstores this summer.

Contrary to previous press accounts, The White House did not hand-pick Hayes to pen an official biography of the vice president. But Cheney has sat down with Hayes more than a half-dozen times, for nearly 40 hours of interviews. Interviews took place in various locations, from Jackson Hole, Wyo., to the vice president’s residence in Washington to Air Force Two to Cheney’s residence on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Hayes has also scored two interviews with President Bush and scores of other interviews with various Bush administration officials.

The 400-plus page “Cheney” will document the vice president’s life from the beginning and Hayes has spoken with family members and friends from Cheney’s childhood, high school and college. And, considering that Cheney’s political career began almost 40 years ago in the Nixon administration, there is no lack of Washingtonians with stories and experiences to share about Cheney. Expect plenty of them — from both sides of the aisle — in Hayes’ book.

Although any insight into the life of the notorious press-averse Cheney is sure to spark Americans’ interest, the book’s release is well-timed: Cheney’s former chief of staff Scooter Libby just earned obstruction and perjury convictions, and Cheney will welcome his sixth grandchild when his daughter, Mary, delivers her baby with partner Heather Poe in late spring.

Former Jordanian ambassador still has party spirit

Karim Kawar might have stepped down as Jordan’s ambassador to the United States, but if Saturday night’s soiree was any indication, the former emissary hasn’t lost much of his social appeal.

Kawar, who is known for his entertaining, was the guest of honor at several going away parties last year, was feted at the Four Seasons hotel on Saturday night.

At 11 p.m. on Saturday, we received word that the party was just heating up and it looked to be a long night for the diplomatic revelers.

The embassy, said our source, was decorated in an “Arab, dream-like, ethereal thing. It was a big hit with the diplomatic community.”

Among them: Afghani Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad, Yemen’s Aldulwahab Al-Hajjri, Italian Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta and former U.S. ambassador to Denmark Stuart Bernstein.

In his remarks, Kawar made clear that it wasn’t a “changing of the guard” party, per se, as Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad has already taken over Kawar’s duties.

Kawar is staying in the area as well. He has founded a Washington-based foundation called Bridges of Understanding.

Senate’s Gainer to don a kilt this week

Terence Gainer, the former chief of the U.S. Capitol Police and current Senate Sergeant at Arms, is a proud Irish-American from Chicago’s South Side.

So we weren’t surprised when we heard a few weeks back that he was keen to don a kilt on the Senate floor in honor of St. Patrick’s Day this year.

Trouble is, Senate rules are very specific about what is permissible attire on the floor, and no, they don’t include kilts. Initially, Gainer said he was thinking about asking the Senate for a special dispensation to put on the full tartan.

But when reached via e-mail last week, he said, “The bad news [is] St. Patrick’s Day is Saturday this year. We do anticipate a session. However, I will wear one on an appropriate day next week, but not on the floor. This approach is a bit more diplomatic, sensitive to the decorum of the institution and more in keeping with the new me.”

Erin go bragh!

AP corrects story on Morris-call girl connection

As Washingtonians eagerly await (or fear) the client list of former escort service owner Deborah Jean Palfrey (she’s hoping to sell the supposed 15,000-plus person list of customers in order to help pay for her defense against racketeering charges), one person wants to assure you that he won’t be on the list: political consultant Dick Morris.

On Friday, The Associated Press ran a story on Palfrey and reported that “Dick Morris, once a campaign adviser to former President Bill Clinton, has publicly acknowledged being a client.”

Not so fast, Morris says. He called the AP’s claim “totally untrue” and forced the news service to issue a correction admitting that they had “erroneously reported” the Morris-Palfrey link.

Cage update: More space

Last week, we reported that Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, who’s coming to town for a few weeks later this month to film “National Treasure 2,” would stay at the Hay Adams hotel across from the White House — an appropriate venue given the historical themes of the movie.

But a source close to the filming says Cage has switched his plans, and will now stay at the presidential suite at the Mandarin Oriental because it better meets his “space requirements.”

Let’s hope so. The suite, which includes 3.5 baths, three bedrooms and a dining room, measures 3,500 square feet in all.

Matchmaking at Walter Reed?

Looks like things are looking better over at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Not only is the mold that was spotted being addressed but it seems love may be in the air as well.

An ad in the “I Saw You” section of the classifieds in this week’s Washington City Paper reads: “You latina form El-Salvador [sic]. We meet while you were trying to get a cup of coffee but lost you [sic] money in the machine. We went upstairs to get some coffee. It you are not married please e-mail me? When: Friday, February 16, 2007. Where: Walter Reed Hospital. You: Woman. Me: Man.”