Dick Cheney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney | |
| Image:Richard Cheney 2005 official portrait.jpg
| |
| | |
|---|---|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2001 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Al Gore |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
| | |
| In office March 21, 1989 – January 20, 1993 | |
| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Frank Carlucci |
| Succeeded by | Les Aspin |
| In office January 3, 1979 – March 20, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Teno Roncalio |
| Succeeded by | Craig Thomas |
| | |
| In office November 21, 1975 – January 20, 1977 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Donald Rumsfeld |
| Succeeded by | Hamilton Jordan |
| Born | January 30 1941 Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Lynne Cheney |
| Residence | Number One Observatory Circle |
| Alma mater | University of Wyoming |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Signature | Image:Dick Cheney singature.jpg |
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney[1] (born January 30, 1941), is the forty-sixth and current Vice President of the United States, making him President of the United States Senate as well.
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska but soon relocated to Casper, Wyoming where he grew up. He began his political career as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger, eventually working his way into the White House during the Ford administration where he served as White House Chief of Staff. In 1978, Cheney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming; he was reelected five times, eventually becoming House Minority Whip. Cheney was selected to be the Secretary of Defense during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, a position he held for much of Bush's term. In it, Cheney oversaw the 1991 Operation Desert Storm, among others.
Cheney joined the presidential campaign for George W. Bush in 2000 and was selected to be Bush's running mate. As Vice President, Cheney remains a very public and controversial figure. He continues to assert that the Iraq War and War on Terror must be won by the United States, and his confrontational manner has gained much approval and backlash. In the private sector, he is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton Company.
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[edit] Early life and family
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Richard Herbert Cheney and Marjorie Lorraine Dickey. He attended Calvert Elementary School[2][3] before his family moved to Casper, Wyoming,[4] where he attended Natrona County High School. His father was a soil conservation agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and his mother was a softball star in the 1930s;[5] Cheney has a brother and a sister as well. He attended Yale University but, as he himself stated, "I flunked out,"[6][7] and later attended the University of Wyoming where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in political science. He subsequently started, but did not finish, doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[8]
In November 1962, at the age of 21, Cheney was convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Cheney discussed this incident in a May 7, 2001, interview in The New Yorker. Cheney said that he found himself, "working, building power lines, having been in a couple of scrapes with the law."[9] He was arrested for DWI again the following year.[10] He said that the arrests made him, "think about where I was and where I was headed. I was headed down a bad road if I continued on that course."[9]
[edit] Marriage and children
In 1964, he married Lynne Vincent, his high school sweetheart, whom he had met at age 14. Lynne Cheney served as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1996. She is now a public speaker, author, and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Cheney is a Christian, attending the United Methodist Church.[11] He has two children, Elizabeth and Mary, and six grandchildren. Elizabeth, his eldest daughter, is married to Philip J. Perry, General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security; Mary currently lives in Great Falls, Virginia with her longtime partner, Heather Poe.[12] Mary's pregnancy and her sexual orientation as a lesbian became a source of public attention for Cheney during the 2004 election in light of the same-sex marriage debate.[13]
[edit] Vietnam War draft
Cheney was of military age and a supporter of the Vietnam War but he did not serve in the war, applying for and receiving five draft deferments. In an interview with George C. Wilson that appeared in the April 5, 1989 issue of The Washington Post, when asked about his deferments the future Defense Secretary said, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service."[14] While Cheney was eligible for the draft, as he said during his confirmation hearings in 1989, he was not called up because the Selective Service System was only taking older men. On January 19, 1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant, Mr. Cheney applied for 3-A status, the "hardship" exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents. It was granted. In January 1967, Cheney turned 26 and was no longer eligible for the draft.[15]
[edit] Early White House appointments
Dick Cheney's political career began in 1969, as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger during the Nixon Administration.[10] The intern Cheney then joined the staff of Donald Rumsfeld, who was then Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity from 1969–70.[10] He held a several positions in the years that followed: White House Staff Assistant in 1971, Assistant Director of the Cost of Living Council from 1971–73, and Deputy Assistant to the president from 1974–1975. It was in this position that Cheney suggested in a memo to Rumsfeld that the Ford White House should use the Justice Department in a variety of legally questionable ways to exact retribution for an article published by The New York Times investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.[16]
Under President Gerald Ford, Cheney worked as Assistant to the president. Rumsfeld was named Secretary of Defense, and Cheney became Chief of Staff to the president, succeeding Rumsfeld.[10] Cheney was campaign manager for Ford's 1976 Presidential Campaign.[17]
[edit] Congress
In 1978, Cheney was elected to represent Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives to replace resigning Congressman Teno Roncalio, defeating his Democratic opponent, Bill Bailey. Cheney was reelected five times, serving until 1989. He was Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee from 1981 to 1987 when he was elected Chairman of the House Republican Conference. The following year, he was elected House Minority Whip.[18]
[edit] Votes
Among the many votes he cast during his tenure in the House, he voted in 1979 with the majority against making Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a national holiday, and again voted with the majority in 1983 when the measure passed.[17] He voted against the creation of the U.S. Department of Education, citing his concern over budget deficits and expansion of the federal government, as well as claimed the Department was an encroachment on states' rights.[19] He voted against funding Head Start, but reversed his position in 2000.[20]
In 1986, after President Ronald Reagan vetoed a bill to impose economic sanctions against South Africa for its policy of apartheid, Cheney was one of 83 Representatives to vote against overriding the veto.[21] In later years, he articulated his opposition to unilateral sanctions against many different countries, stating "they almost never work."[22]
In 1986, Cheney, along with 145 Republicans and 31 Democrats, voted against a non-binding Congressional resolution calling on the South African government to release Nelson Mandela from prison, after the Democrats defeated proposed amendments that would have required Mandela to renounce violence sponsored by the African National Congress (ANC) and requiring it to oust the communist faction from leadership; the resolution was defeated. Appearing on CNN, Cheney addressed criticism for this, saying he opposed the resolution because the ANC "at the time was viewed as a terrorist organization and had a number of interests that were fundamentally inimical to the United States."[23]
Cheney also served as ranking minority member of the Congressional committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair[10] — a scandal involving members of the Reagan Administration who illegally sold arms to Iran, using the proceeds to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.[24] He advocated the state's petroleum and coal businesses as well,[25] and as a result, the federal building in Casper, a regional center of the oil and coal business, is named the "Dick Cheney Federal Building."[26]
[edit] House Minority Whip
In December 1988, the House Republicans elected Cheney to the second spot in the leadership, serving a mere two and a half months.[18] He was appointed Secretary of Defense soon afterward to replace former Texas Senator John G. Tower, whose nomination had been rejected by the Senate in March 1989.[27]
[edit] Secretary of Defense
Cheney served as the Secretary of Defense from March 1989 to January 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. He directed the United States invasion of Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. In 1991 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush.[18]
[edit] Early tenure
Cheney began his job by working closely with Pete Williams, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.[27] He tended to generally focus on external matters, and left most internal Pentagon management to Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald J. Atwood, Jr.[27]
[edit] Budgetary practices
Cheney's most immediate issue as Defense Secretary was the budget of the Department of Defense. Cheney reasoned it necessary to cut the budget and downsize the military, following President Ronald Reagan's peacetime defense buildup during the height of the Cold War,[28] and his practices enacted were focused on accomplishing those beliefs. While considering the fiscal year 1990 budget, Secretary Cheney had to take into account the requests of each of the branches of the armed services roughly totaling $4.5 billion.[27] When the 1990 Budget came before Congress in the summer of 1989, they settled on a budget between the preferences of the Administration and the House Armed Services Committee.[27]
In subsequent years under Cheney, the budgets proposed and the final outcomes followed patterns similar to that of 1990.[27] Early in 1991 the secretary unveiled a plan to reduce military strength by the mid-1990s to 1.6 million, compared to 2.2 million when he entered office. When introducing the 1993 budget, Cheney amended it, stating that Congress had directed the Defense Department to buy weapons it did not want, and required it to maintain unneeded reserve forces.[27]
Over his four years as Secretary of Defense, the Department of Defense's total obligational authority in current dollars declined from $291.3 billion to $269.9 billion.[27] Overall the Cheney budgets showed negative real growth and total military personnel dropped by 19.4 percent, from 2.202 million in 1989 to 1.776 million in 1993, thus the policies were relatively successful at downsizing the military.[27]
[edit] Political climate and agenda
Cheney made public his thought regarding the possibility that nations such as Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, could acquire nuclear components after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[27] The end of the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact obliged the Bush Administration to reevaluate the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) purpose and makeup. Cheney believed that NATO had to remain the foundation of European security relationships and that it would continue to be important to the United States in the long term; he urged the alliance to lend more assistance to the new democracies in Eastern Europe.[27]
Cheney's views on NATO reflected his skepticism about prospects for peaceful evolution in the former Soviet areas. He saw high potential for uncertainty and instability, and he felt that the Bush Administration was too optimistic in supporting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and his successor, Boris Yeltsin.[27] Cheney believed that the United States should reaffirm its strong ties to European nations, and worked to accomplish that.[29]
Cheney is widely credited with persuading the Saudi Arabian leaders to allow bases of American ground troops and war planes in the nation, major elements of the Gulf War and International relations.[30]
[edit] International situations
Using economic sanctions and political pressure, the United States mounted a campaign to drive Panamanian ruler General Manuel Antonio Noriega from power.[27] In May 1989 after Guillermo Endara had been duly elected President of Panama, Noriega nullified the election outcome, incurring intensified pressure on him. In October Noriega succeeded in quelling a military coup, but in December, after his defense forces shot a U.S. serviceman, 24,000 U.S. troops invaded Panama under the direction of Secretary Cheney. The stated reason for the invasion was to seize Noriega to face drug charges in the United States, protect American lives and property, and restore Panamanian liberties.[31] Although the mission was controversial,[32] American forces achieved control and Endara assumed the Presidency; Noriega was convicted and imprisoned on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in April 1992.[33]
In Somalia, a civil war that began in 1991 claimed the world's attention. In August 1992 the United States began to provide humanitarian assistance, primarily food, through a military airlift. At President Bush's direction Cheney dispatched the first of 26,000 U.S. troops to Somalia as part of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), designed to provide security and food relief.[27] Cheney's successors as Secretary of Defense, Les Aspin and William J. Perry, had to contend with both the Bosnian and Somali issues.
[edit] Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Cheney's biggest challenge came in the Persian Gulf. On August 1, 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein sent invading forces into neighboring Kuwait, a small oil-rich country long claimed by Iraq.[34] An estimated 140,000 Iraqi troops quickly took control of Kuwait City and moved on to the Saudi Arabia/Kuwait border.[27] The United States had already begun to develop contingency plans for defense of Saudi Arabia by the U.S. Central Command, headed by General Norman Schwarzkopf.
[edit] US and world reaction
Secretary Cheney participated intently with Schwarzkopf and others in overseeing planning for what would become a full-scale U.S. military operation. According to General Colin Powell, Cheney "had become a glutton for information, with an appetite we could barely satisfy. He spent hours in the National Military Command Center peppering my staff with questions."[27]
Shortly after the Iraqi invasion, Cheney made the first of several visits to Saudi Arabia where King Fahd requested U.S. military assistance.[34] The United Nations took action as well, passing a series of resolutions condemning Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; the Security Council authorized "all means necessary" to eject Iraq from Kuwait, and demanded that the country withdraw its forces by January 15, 1991.[34] By then, the United States had a force of about 500,000 stationed in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Other nations, including Great Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Syria, and Egypt, contributed troops, and other allies, most notably Germany and Japan, agreed to provide financial support for the coalition effort, named Operation Desert Shield.[27]
On January 12, 1991, both Houses of Congress authorized the President to use military force to secure Iraq's compliance with UN resolutions on Kuwait.[34]
[edit] Military action
The first phase of Operation Desert Storm, which began on January 17, 1991, was an air offensive to secure air superiority and attack Iraq's forces, targetting key Iraqi command and control centers, including Baghdad and Basra. Cheney turned most other Department of Defense matters over to Deputy Secretary Atwood and briefed Congress during the air and ground phases of the war.[27] He flew with General Powell to the region (specifically Riyadh) to review and finalize the ground war plans.[34]
After an air offensive of more than five weeks, the UN coalition launched the ground war on February 24. Within 100 hours, Iraqi forces had been routed from Kuwait and General Schwarzkopf reported that the basic objective—expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait—had been met on February 27.[35] After consultation with Cheney and other members of his national security team, President Bush declared a suspension of hostilities.[34]
[edit] Aftermath
A total of 147 U.S. military personnel died in combat, and another 236 died as a result of accidents or other causes.[27][35] Iraq agreed to a formal truce on March 3, and a permanent cease-fire on April 6.[27]
Subsequently there was debate about whether the UN coalition should have driven as far as Baghdad to oust Saddam Hussein from power. President Bush agreed that the decision to end the ground war when they did was correct, but the debate persisted as Hussein remained in power and rebuilt his military forces.[27] Arguably the most weighted debate was the question of whether U.S. and coalition forces had left Iraq too soon.[36][37] In an April 15, 1994 interview with C-SPAN, Cheney explained that occupying and attempting to take over the country would have been a "bad idea" and would have led to a "quagmire."[38][39]
Cheney regarded the Gulf War as an example of the kind of regional problem the United States was likely to continue to face in the future.
We're always going to have to be involved [in the Middle East]. Maybe it's part of our national character, you know we like to have these problems nice and neatly wrapped up, put a ribbon around it. You deploy a force, you win the war and the problem goes away and it doesn't work that way in the Middle East it never has and isn't likely to in my lifetime.[40]
[edit] Private sector career
With Democrats returning to the White House in January 1993, Cheney left the Department of Defense and joined the American Enterprise Institute. From 1995 until 2000, he served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton, a Fortune 500 company and market leader in the energy sector. Cheney's record as C.E.O. was the subject of some dispute among Wall Street analysts, and a 1998 merger between Halliburton and Dresser Industries attracted the criticism of some Dresser executives for Halliburton's lack of accounting transparency.[41]
During Cheney's tenure, Halliburton changed its accounting practices regarding revenue realization of disputed costs on major construction projects.[42] Cheney resigned as CEO of Halliburton on July 25, 2000. He argued that this step removed any conflict of interest. Cheney's net worth, estimated to be between $30 million and $100 million, is largely derived from his post at Halliburton, as well as the Cheneys gross income of nearly $8.82 million.[43]
In 1997, along with Donald Rumsfeld, William Kristol and others, Cheney founded the "Project for the New American Century," a neoconservative U.S. think tank whose self-stated goal is to "promote American global leadership."[44] He was also part of the board of advisors of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) before becoming Vice President.[30]
[edit] Vice-President
[edit] 2000 election
In early 2000, while serving as Halliburton's CEO, he headed George W. Bush's Vice-Presidential Search Committee. After reviewing Cheney's findings, on July 25th, Bush surprised some pundits by asking Cheney himself to join the Republican ticket.[10] Halliburton reportedly reached agreement on July 20th to allow Cheney to retire, with a package estimated at $20 million.[45]
Uncomfortable with the "rope line" receptions of "retail politics" during the campaign, Cheney had a very collegial television debate with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Senator Joseph Lieberman, in stark contrast to the Bush-Gore debates.
While the outcome of the election was still very much in doubt in Florida and then federal courts, Cheney opened a privately-funded transition office in Washington, when the Bush-Cheney ticket was denied public funding for transition planning. The independently financed transition office worked to fill all important Cabinet-level and sub-Cabinet level positions.[46] According to Craig Unger, Cheney advocated Donald Rumsfeld for the post of Secretary of Defense to counter the influence of Colin Powell at the State Department, and tried unsuccessfully to have Paul D. Wolfowitz named to replace George Tenet as director of the CIA.[47]
[edit] First term
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Vice President Cheney and President Bush were kept in physically distant locations for security reasons. For a period Cheney was not seen in public, remaining in an undisclosed location.[48]
On the morning of June 29, 2002, Cheney served as Acting President of the United States under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, while President Bush was undergoing a colonoscopy. Cheney acted as President from 11:09 UTC that day until Bush resumed control at 13:24 UTC[49][50]
[edit] War on Terrorism
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Cheney has remained firm in his support of President Bush's terrorism policy. Despite reports from the Pentagon that deny a very strong link between the two, Cheney continues to assert a connection between Al-Qaeda and Iraq prior to the Iraq War in several public speeches, drawing criticism from members of the intelligence community and leading Democrats.[51][52]
Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Cheney has remained steadfast in his support of the war, stating that it will be an "enormus success story"[53] and has made many visits to the country. He has criticized war critics numerous times, once calling them “opportunists” who were peddling “cynical and pernicious falsehoods” to gain political advantage while U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.[54] In response, Senator John Kerry claimed “it is hard to name a government official with less credibility on Iraq [than Cheney]."[54]
[edit] Second term
Cheney's former chief legal counsel, David Addington, is currently his chief of staff. John P. Hannah serves as his national security adviser; the two roles had been combined under I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr.[55]
Under the same circumstances as on June 29, 2002, on the morning of July 21, 2007, Cheney served as acting president for approximately 2 and a half hours.[56]President Bush transferred the power of the presidency prior to undergoing a medical procedure requiring sedation and later resumed his powers and duties that same day.[56]
Since 2001, when asked if he is interested in the Republican presidential nomination, Cheney has said he wishes to retire to private life after his term as vice president expires.[57]
[edit] Disclosure of documents
Cheney was a prominent member of the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG)[58] commonly known as the Energy task force, which was comprised by people in the energy industry including several Enron executives.[59] Because of the subsequent Enron scandal, critics accused the Bush Administration of improper political and business ties. In July 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Commerce must make the NEPDG documental information regarding companies that had made agreements with Saddam Hussein to develop Iraq's oil, public.[59]
The defiance of the vice-president's office to executive branch rules on handling of confidential information, was questioned, for Cheney has refused to release the documents, citing his executive privilege to deny congressional information requests.[60] Mainstream media outlets such as Time Magazine and CBS News sarcastically questioned whether Cheney had created a "fourth branch of government" that was subject to no laws.[61]
[edit] CIA leak scandal
- See also: CIA leak grand jury investigation and United States v. Libby
On October 18, 2005, The Washington Post reported that the vice president's office was central to the investigation of the Valerie Plame CIA leak scandal, for Cheney's former Chief of Staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, is one of the figures involved under investigation.[62] On October 28, Libby was indicted on five felony counts.[63] Libby subsequently lost his position as Cheney's Chief of Staff, and was replaced in that capacity by Addington. The National Journal reported that Libby had stated before a grand jury that his superiors, including Vice President Cheney, had authorized him to disclose classified information to the press regarding Iraq's weapons intelligence on February 9, 2006.[64]
On September 8, 2006, Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State, publicly announced that he was the source of the revelation of Plame's status. Armitage said he was not a part of a conspiracy to reveal Plame's identity and did not know whether one existed.[65]
[edit] Hunting incident
On February 11, 2006, Cheney accidentally[66] shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney, in the face, neck, and upper torso with birdshot pellets when he turned to shoot a quail while hunting on a southern Texas ranch.[67]
Whittington suffered a "mild heart attack," and atrial fibrillation due to a pellet that embedded in the outer layers of his heart. The Kenedy County Sheriff's office cleared Cheney of any criminal wrongdoing in the matter, and in an interview with Fox News, Cheney accepted full responsibility for the incident.[68] Whittington was discharged from the hospital on February 17, 2006, and characterized the incident as being quite brutal. Later, Whittington apologized to the vice-president for the trouble the event had caused him and his family. Cheney has stated many times that it was an honest accident.[69] He has also denied that alcohol had anything to do with the shooting, although he had been drinking at lunch. No breathalyzer test was performed, and Cheney did not talk to police until the next day.[70]
Cheney became the target of ridicule after the incident; one notable reference to the event was Stephen Colbert at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.[71]
[edit] Impeachment proceedings
On April 24, 2007, Democratic Presidential Candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio presented articles of impeachment against Cheney, as House Resolution 333.[72][73][74] It was not initially cosponsored, and was immediately referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where no action was taken.[75] The resolution has acquired twenty-two Democratic cosponsors since its introduction, six of whom are members of the House Judiciary Committee.[76][77][78] After six months without a debate or vote, Kucinich re-introduced identical content as a new resolution, House Resolution 799, on November 6, 2007.[79] This was also referred to the House Judiciary Committee.[80]
[edit] Alleged assassination attempt
On February 27, 2007, at approximately 10 a.m., a suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded 20 more outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan during a visit by Cheney. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack and said Cheney was its intended target. The Taliban claim that Osama Bin Laden supervised the operation.[81] The bomb went off outside the front gate, however, while Cheney was inside the base and half a mile away. He reported hearing the blast, saying "I heard a loud boom...The Secret Service came in and told me there had been an attack on the main gate."[82] The cause for Cheney's visit to the region had been to press Pakistan for a united front against the Taliban.[83] Most of the casualties were Afghan workers at the base.
[edit] Health problems
Cheney's long histories of cardiovascular disease and periodic need for urgent health care have raised questions of whether he is medically fit to serve in public office. Formerly a heavy smoker, Cheney sustained the first of four heart attacks in 1978, at age 37. Subsequent attacks in 1984, 1988, and 2000 have resulted in moderate contractile dysfunction of his left ventricle.[84] He underwent four-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting in 1988, coronary artery stenting in November 2000, and urgent coronary balloon angioplasty in March 2001.[84]
As vice president, Cheney is cared for by the White House Medical Group (WHMG).[85] Staff from the WHMG accompany the president and the vice president while either are traveling, and make advance contact with local emergency medical services to ensure that urgent care is available immediately should it be necessary.[86] He has undergone a number of operations during his tenure.
In 2001, a Holter monitor disclosed brief episodes of (asymptomatic) ectopy. An electrophysiologic study was performed, at which Cheney was found to have an unsteady and potentially fatal heartbeat.[87] An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) was therefore implanted in his left upper anterior chest.[87]
On September 24, 2005, Cheney underwent a six hour endo-vascular procedure to repair popliteal artery aneurysms bilaterally, a catheter treatment technique used in the artery behind each knee.[84] The condition was discovered at a regular physical in July, and was not life-threatening.[88] Cheney was taken to hospital for tests after experiencing shortness of breath five months following. After an ultrasound in late April 2006, doctors said the clot was slowly getting smaller.[84]
The vice president was treated for deep-vein thrombosis in his left leg at George Washington University Hospital on March 5, 2007. He was taken there after experiencing pain in his left calf.[84] Doctors prescribed blood-thinning medication and he was allowed to return to work.[89]
The Cable News Network reported that during the morning of November 26, 2007, Cheney was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and would undergo treatment that afternoon. Doctors also treated Cheney for an irregular heartbeat.[84]
[edit] Public perception
Both supporters and detractors of Cheney point to his reputation as a shrewd and knowledgeable politician who knows the functions and intricacies of the federal government. One sign of Cheney's active policy-making role is the fact that the House Speaker Dennis Hastert gave him an office near the House floor[90] in addition to his office in the West Wing,[91] his ceremonial office in the Old Executive Office Building,[92] and his Senate offices (one in the Dirksen Senate Office Building and another off the floor of the Senate).[93][90]
Cheney has actively promoted an expansion of the powers of the presidency, saying that the Bush administration’s challenges to the laws which Congress passed after Vietnam and Watergate to contain and oversee the executive branch — the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Presidential Records Act, the Freedom of Information Act and the War Powers Resolution — are “a restoration, if you will, of the power and authority of the president.”[94]
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, both Bush's and Cheney's approval ratings skyrocketed, with Cheney reaching 63%[95] and the president with 90%.[96] The numbers for both figures have steadily declined since that period, however.[95] In November 2005, Cheney's approval rating was 36 percent according to the Gallup Organization with a disapproval rating of 54 percent;[95] one year later, the approval had dropped five points (to 31 percent) according to a poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International.[97] Other 2006 polls, including the Harris Poll, showed his approval rating within that same range[97] and disapproval rating in the low 60s.[97] In 2007, the approval rating hit 40, but has since declined to the mid-30s percentile, according to a July 2007 Gallup poll[95] with the disapproval rating at 60 percent and the balance not giving an opinion.[95] In January 1999 Cheney's predecessor, Al Gore, had a 64% approval rating.[98]
Cheney has proven to be a controversial figure, mostly by aligning himself with America's current Iraq policies. In one instance, the vice president was recorded as supporting the terrorist interrogation technique waterboarding,[99] yet that same statement was declined by the White House the following day.[100] In April of 2007 the Vice President was awarded an honorary doctorate of public service from Brigham Young University, where he delivered the commencement address[101] The selection of the vice president as the graduate commencement speaker generated controversy. College President Gordon B. Hinkley and the rest of the Board of Trustees issued a statement explaining that the invitation to Vice President Cheney should be viewed "as one extended to someone holding the high office of vice president of the United States rather than to a partisan political figure."[102] BYU permitted a protest to occur so long as it did not "make personal attacks against Cheney, attack (the) BYU administration, the church or the First Presidency."[103]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Although his last name is usually pronounced ['tʃeɪni] (chAYnee) in the media and public-at-large, the Vice President himself and his family has traditionally pronounced it as ['tʃi:ni] (chEEnee).
- ^ Bio on Kids' section of White House site. White House. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Flyer for Calvert Elementary School. Lincoln Public Schools (2006-05-15). Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Official US Biography. White House. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Interview With Lynne Cheney. CNN (2003-09-20). Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
- ^ Phil McCombs. "The Unsettling Calm of Dick Cheney: Defense's Civilian Chief and Seasoned Washington Hand, Playing It Cool", Washington Post, 1991-04-03, p. C01.
- ^ Dick Cheney: a man of influence, but still in the background. Minnesota Public Radio, AP (September 1, 2004). Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
- ^ (Fall 2006) "A Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of the Department" (PDF). North Hall News: 4. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ a b Lemann, Nicholas. "The Quiet Man." The New Yorker. May 7, 2001. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f Lindsay G. McCollough (Producer), Barton Gellman (Narrator). The Life and Career of Dick Cheney [Narrated slideshow]. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
- ^ Menendez, Alberto J (2006-12-12). United Methodists fill 62 seats in new Congress. United States Marine Corps. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ Vice President Cheney's legacy grows by one grandchild. Retrieved on September 2007.
- ^ "Cheney describes same-sex marriage as state issue." CNN. August 25, 2004. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.
- ^ Dionne, E.J. Jr. "Murtha and the Mudslingers." The Washington Post. January 17, 2006. Retrieved on January 1, 2008.
- ^ "Cheney's Five Draft Deferments During the Vietnam Era Emerge as a Campaign Issue", The New York Times, 2004-05-01. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ "Hersh on secret White House plot to bomb Iran", Rolling Stone, 2007-04-02. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
- ^ a b People in the News: Dick Cheney. Chiff.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ a b c The Board of Regents. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
- ^ Dick Cheney on Education. OntheIssues.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
- ^ McIntyre, Robert S.. "Dick Cheney, Fiscal Conservative?", The New York Times, 2000-07-28. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
- ^ Booker, Salih (2001). The Coming Apathy: Africa Policy Under a Bush Administration. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
- ^ Defending Liberty in a Global Economy. Cato Institute (1998-06-23). Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
- ^ "Cheney defends voting record, blasts Clinton on talk-show circuit", CNN, 2000-07-30. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
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- ^ Transcript of Colbert's speech
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[edit] Further reading
[edit] Works by
- Professional Military Education: An Asset for Peace and Progress : A Report of the Crisis Study Group on Professional Military Education (Csis Report) 1997. ISBN 0-89206-297-5
- Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History 1996. ISBN 0-8264-0230-5
[edit] Works about
- Andrews, Elaine. Dick Cheney: A Life Of Public Service. Millbrook Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7613-2306-6
- Mann, James. Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet. Viking, 2004. ISBN 0-670-03299-9
- Nichols, John. Dick: The Man Who is President. New Press, 2004. ISBN 1-56584-840-3
[edit] External links
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- Official homepage at whitehouse.gov
- Dick Cheney at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- US Department of State
- The New York Times — Dick Cheney archives
- Vice Presidential Debate, October 5 2004: Transcript text, Audio and Video (RealPlayer or MPG format)
Minority Whips of the United States House of Representatives | |
|---|---|
| Underwood • Lloyd • Dwight • Burke • Hamilton • Oldfield • McDuffie • Bachmann • Englebright • Arends • McCormack • Arends • McCormack • Arends • Michel • Lott • Cheney • Gingrich • Bonior • Pelosi • Hoyer • Blunt | |
United States Secretaries of Defense | |
|---|---|
| Forrestal • Johnson • Marshall • Lovett • Wilson • McElroy • T Gates • McNamara • Clifford • Laird • Richardson • Schlesinger • Rumsfeld • Brown • Weinberger • Carlucci • Cheney • Aspin • Perry • Cohen • Rumsfeld • R Gates | Image:United States Department of Defense Seal.svg |
White House Chiefs of Staff | |
|---|---|
| Steelman • Adams • Persons • M Watson • Haldeman • Haig • Rumsfeld • Cheney • Jordan • J Watson • J Baker • Regan • H Baker • Duberstein • Sununu • Skinner • J Baker • McLarty • Panetta • Bowles • Podesta • Card • Bolten | |
Current members of the United States Cabinet | |
|---|---|
| (c) cabinet-level only, (a) acting | |
Current United States Senate leadership | |
|---|---|
| Presiding officers | Dick Cheney (R) (U.S. Vice President and Senate President) · Robert Byrd (D) (President pro tempore) · Ted Stevens (R) (President pro tem emeritus) |
| Majority (Democratic) | Harry Reid (Leader and the Conference Chairman) · Richard Durbin (Whip) · Chuck Schumer (Vice Chairman of the Conference and Campaign Committee Chair) · Patty Murray (Secretary) · Byron Dorgan (Policy Committee Chairman) · Barbara Boxer (Chief Deputy Whip) · Russ Feingold, Tom Carper, Bill Nelson (Deputy Whip) |
| Minority (Republican) | Mitch McConnell (Leader) · Jon Kyl (Whip) · Lamar Alexander (Conference Chairman) · John Cornyn (Vice Chairman and Secretary) · Kay Bailey Hutchison (Policy Committee Chairwoman) |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cheney, Dick |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cheney, Richard Bruce "Dick" (full name) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Vice President of the United States |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 30 January 1941 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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Categories: Semi-protected | 1941 births | 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy and irregularities | American businesspeople | American chief executives | American Enterprise Institute | American hunters | American Methodists | Cheney family | Living people | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Wyoming | Plame affair | People from Casper, Wyoming | People from Jackson, Wyoming | People from Lincoln, Nebraska | Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients | Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees | United States Secretaries of Defense | University of Wyoming alumni | Vice Presidents of the United States | Wyoming Republicans
