Richard
Bruce "Dick" Cheney (born January 30, 1941 in
Lincoln Nebraska)
Richard "Dick" Cheney took
office as the Vice-President of the United States
in January, 2001. He and George W. Bush won the
Presidential Election of 2000 by defeating Al Gore
and Joe Lieberman. Cheney is a Republican who
previously served in Congress, and as the Secretary
of Defense for President H.W. Bush.
Cheney was born in 1941 in
Lincoln, Nebraska, though he grew up in Caspar,
Wyoming, playing football
at
Natrona County High School, where he graduated and
where he also met and dated his future wife,
Lynne.
Dick
Cheney briefly attended Yale University, but left
Yale to return to Wyoming, where he worked as a
lineman for the power company for two years. He
enrolled at the University of Wyoming, where he
earned a BA and and MA in Political Science. In
1968, he worked as a
congressional fellow for Wisconsin Rep. William
Steiger in Washington, D.C. This began his career
in politics, as he began working his way up the
Republican political ladder.
In 1968, Cheney met Donald
Rumsfeld, who then served as the Director of the
Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). Rumsfeld
hired Cheney as his special assistant, where he
stayed until 1971, when he became an assistant at
the White House. He continued to work government
until 1973, when he briefly returned to the private
sector. Then, with the resignation of President
Nixon in 1974, Cheney was again called into
government service. Cheney joined President Ford's
transition team, which was headed up by his old
boss, Donald Rumsfeld. After the transition,
Rumsfeld became the White House Chief of Staff, and
he made Cheney his Deputy Assistant. When Rumsfeld
left that position, Ford promoted Dick Cheney, who
became the youngest person serve in the powerful
gateway position of White House Chief of Staff.
Cheney was 34 years old at the time.
After the Ford Administration
left office, Cheney ran for Wyoming's sole
Congressional seat, winning election in 1978. He
served in the House of Representatives from 1979 to
1989, when he became the Secretary of Defense in
the administration of President George H.W.
Bush.
Cheney became a well-known
figure in the Defense post with Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait in 1990, and the subsequent American
military buildup that led to the Gulf
War (First War with
Iraq), in 1991.
Following Bush's defeat by Bill
Clinton in the 1992 election, Cheney once again
returned to the private sector, eventually leading
the Halliburton Corporation.
Then, in 2000, Texas Governor
George W. Bush, the son of the first President
Bush, chose Cheney to lead his Vice-Presidential
Selection Committee. After interviewing several
possible running mates, Bush decided on Dick Cheney
to be his running mate. They won the 2000 election
in a cliff-hanger decided only after the Supreme
Court refused to allow a recount of Florida
ballots.
As Vice-President, Cheney has
been criticized for his influence on American
foreign policy, particularly after the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He was a proponent of
invading
Iraq in 2003, and a
defender of the treatment of prisoners at
Guantanamo Bay.
Cheney, while usually avoiding
the limelight, strongly criticized Senator John
Kerry during the 2004 election for mentioning
Cheney's daughter Mary, who is a lesbian, in a
discussion on gay marriage. Cheney has publicly
said he supports gay marriage, a position which
seemingly puts him at odds with the President.
Cheney also ended up in the headlines when he
accidentally shot his friend and hunting partner,
Harry Whittington, on February 11, 2006.
On February 27, 2007, while on a
diplomatic trip to Afghanistan, an apparant
assassination attempt was made by Taliban
insurgents, who claimed that Cheney was a target in
the attack. A suicide bomber blew up a checkpoint
at Bagram Air Base outside of Kabul, killing 20,
including an American soldier. Cheney was unhurt in
the attack.
On March 5, 2007, doctors
discoverd a blood clot, called a venous thrombosis,
in Dick Cheney's lower left leg. Doctors planned on
treating it with medication.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_blood_clot
Cheney has said he does not plan
on running for President in the 2008
election.
Predecessor
in Office:
|
Gerald
R. Ford's Offices:
|
Successor
in Office:
|
Preceded
by:
Donald
Rumsfeld
|
White
House Chief of Staff
1975–1977
|
Succeeded
by:
Hamilton
Jordan
|
Preceded
by:
Teno
Roncalio
|
Member
of the U.S. House of
Representatives
from
Wyoming's At-large congressional
district
1979 –
1989
|
Succeeded
by:
Craig
Thomas
|
Preceded
by:
Trent
Lott
|
House
Minority Whip
House
Republican Whip
1989
|
Succeeded
by:
Newt
Gingrich
|
Preceded
by:
Frank C.
Carlucci
|
Secretary
of Defense
1989 –
1993
|
Succeeded
by:
Les
Aspin
|
Preceded
by:
Jack
Kemp
|
Republican
Party Vice Presidential
candidate
2000 (won), 2004
(won)
|
Succeeded
by:
None
|
Preceded
by:
Albert
Gore
|
Vice
President of the United States
January 20, 2001
– present
Acting
President:
June 29,
2002
|
Succeeded
by:
None
(Incumbent)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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