Cheney, Richard B.

▪ 2001

      When Texas oil executive Richard B. Cheney took the job of heading a search committee to find a running mate for George W. Bush (Bush, George W. ) (q.v.), few suspected that he himself would end up the Republican vice presidential candidate. On July 25, 2000, however, Bush announced that Cheney was his choice. What he brought to the ticket was experience in national government and in foreign affairs, both of which Bush lacked. Cheney's campaign appearances, which included attacks on what he called the “big government” policies of Al Gore (Gore, Albert A., Jr. ) (q.v.), were effective among many voters and helped the Republican ticket win a narrow victory.

      Cheney was born on Jan. 30, 1941, in Lincoln, Neb., but he grew up in Casper, Wyo. He entered Yale University in 1959 but failed to graduate. Cheney then earned B.A. (1965) and M.A. (1966) degrees in political science from the University of Wyoming and did work toward a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In 1968 he went to Washington, D.C., as a congressional fellow, and beginning in 1969 he worked in the administration of Pres. Richard Nixon. In 1974 Cheney became deputy chief of staff and in 1975 chief of staff for Pres. Gerald Ford. In 1978 he was elected from Wyoming to the first of six terms in the House of Representatives, and by 1988 he had risen to become the Republican whip. In the House he took conservative positions on issues, in particular opposing abortion, gun control, and environmental regulation. From 1989 to 1993 he was secretary of defense in the administration of Pres. George Bush and presided over reductions in the military following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Cheney also oversaw military operations in Panama and was the principal strategist of Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. After President Bush lost his reelection bid in 1992, Cheney left government to become a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In 1995 he became the chairman and CEO of the Halliburton Co., a firm in Dallas, Texas, engaged in the oil-services industry and in construction.

      Beginning in 1978 Cheney suffered three mild heart attacks, and he underwent quadruple-bypass surgery in 1988. Doctors pronounced him fit to participate in a national campaign and to serve as vice president, and his medical condition did not become an issue. Two weeks after the election, however, he suffered another mild heart attack, but he quickly resumed his duties in assisting in transition plans. There were signs that he would play a very active role in a Bush administration.

Robert Rauch

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