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Since the beginning of George W. Bush’s first term, administration officials, beginning with Vice President Dick Cheney, wanted to focus a maximum of their energy on the restoration of presidential powers they believed had been eroded by the twin disasters of Vietnam and Watergate. The September 11 attacks provided them with an unparalleled occasion to reach that aim. The Administration got the Patriot Act from Congress as well as the authorization to wage two wars; it was granted extensive powers to pursue enemies, and in the treatment of prisoners, proceeded by decree to increase the CIA’s powers, and placed certain electronic mail and telephone under surveillance. Combined with not so scrupulous election campaigning and a focus on the vital nature of the "War on Terror," this concentration of powers allowed it to win the 2002 and then the 2004 elections. However, it has since suffered from the worsening situation in Iraq, its incompetence in the face of Katrina, and the whistle-blowing of many corruption scandals that led to its defeat in the last elections.