Sunday Spotlight: R.J. Cutler

And we are back now with our "sunday spotlight." This week it's on r.J. Cutler. The filmmaker has a new showtime documentary "the world according to dick cheney." Cheney's cooperation did not come... See More

And we are back now with our "sunday spotlight." This week it's on r.J. Cutler. The filmmaker has a new showtime documentary "the world according to dick cheney." Cheney's cooperation did not come easy. I was advised early on that the best path to getting him to participate would be patience, and, indeed, it took seven months between the time that i first reached out to him and the time that he invited me to have lunch with him to discuss what my plans were for the film. He does say a lot that he is not interested in what people think about him, but it's hard to imagine that he's not invested in what his legacy is. He is a significant figure in american history. I don't lay awake at night thinking, gee, what are they going to say about me now? I didn't worry about it a lot when I was doing it, and i thought the best way to get on with my life and my career was to do what I thought was right. Making a film like "the world according to dick cheney," you need to enter most of all with curiosity, not with expectations, not with preconceived notions, but with questions. I was very struck by his comparison of honor and duty when he was talking about enhanced interrogation and his -- really his dismissal of honor as a value in the face of duty. Tell me what terrorist attacks you would have let go forward because you didn't want to be a mean and nasty fellow. Are you going to trade the lives of people because you want to preserve your honor, or are you going to do your job, do what's required, first and foremost your responsibility is to safeguard the united states of america and the lives of its citizens. He does not feel that there is room for compromise and that compromise is a quality that a strong leader has, and I think that it raises the question of when total conviction serves a democracy and when it can be problematic for a democracy, and that's a question that to me is worth considering not only in the specific analysis of the george w. Bush presidency and his relationship with vice president cheney and vice president cheney's career, but in thinking about democracy from a larger view, and so this was a major reason why we wanted to make this film and something that I was really excited about exploring. And it is a fascinating look at a powerful man. "The world according to dick cheney" premieres friday on showtime. Our thanks to r.J. Cutler for that. And now we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. ♪ this week, the pentagon released the name of one soldier killed in afghanistan. That is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out "world news with david muir." Diane sawyer will be in rome all week long covering the papal conclave. That will begin later in the