"Interestingly, this goes all the way back to Vice President Dick Cheney's days in the Ford White House. Cheney was chief of staff at a time after Watergate, when the executive branch had lost much of its power and clout in Washington. And Cheney - like his boss, President Bush - has made it his mission to, as he puts it, ensure that executive branch powers are not eroded. He took his first stand shortly after coming to the White House, when Democrats asked for documents showing whom he met with as he was drafting Mr. Bush's energy proposal. And so the whole fight over Bolton and the documents has to be seen in that light."
-NPR.org