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{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em; text-align:left;"
|+ <big>'''Richard B. Cheney'''</big>
|style="background:#efefef;" colspan="2" align="center"| [[Image:Dick Cheney.jpg|200px|Richard B. Cheney]]
|-
! Order:
| 46th Vice President
|-
! Term of Office:
| [[January 20]], [[2001]]–present
|-
! Predecessor:
| [[Al Gore]] <!-- | '''Succeeded by:''' || [[Add Successor Here]] -->
|-
! Date of Birth
| [[January 30]], [[1941]]
|-
! Place of Birth:
| [[Lincoln, Nebraska]]
|-
! [[Wife]]:
| [[Lynne Cheney]]
|-
! [[Profession]]:
| [[Businessman]]
|-
! [[Political party|Political Party]]:
| [[United States Republican Party|Republican]]
|-
! [[President of the United States|President]]:
| [[George W. Bush]]
|}
'''Richard Bruce Cheney''' (born [[January 30]], [[1941]]), widely known as '''Dick Cheney''', is an [[Politics of the United States|American politician]] and [[businessman]] affiliated with the [[United States Republican Party|U.S. Republican Party]]. He is currently serving as the 46th [[Vice President of the United States]] under [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]].
==Early life and family==
Cheney was born in [[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]], [[Nebraska]] to Richard Herbert Cheney and Marjorie Dickey Cheney. His father worked for the [[United States Department of Agriculture|U.S. Department of Agriculture]] as a soil conservation agent. Cheney grew up in [[Casper, Wyoming|Casper]], [[Wyoming]], and met his high school sweetheart and future wife, [[Lynne Cheney|Lynne Vincent]], at age 14.
Cheney excelled both academically and athletically in high school. He was elected the [[Natrona County, Wyoming|Natrona County]] High School senior class president, represented the school at Boys State, and played [[halfback]] on the [[American football|football]] team. [http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2004/07/19/build/wyoming/20-cheney-reunion.inc]
[http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/nacohs.htm][http://ncsdweb.ncsd.k12.wy.us/schools/nchs/] Beginning the summer after high school graduation in [[1959]] and during the next six years, Cheney worked on power lines and was a member of the [[International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers]] union.
In [[1964]], he married his high-school sweetheart [[Lynne Cheney|Lynne]] Vincent. Mrs. Cheney has a B.A. with highest honors from Colorado College, an M.A. from The University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. from The University of Wisconsin specializing in British literature. She has authored or co-authored eight books and numerous articles. Appointed Chair of the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] by Ronald Reagan, she served from l986 to 1993. She is now a public speaker, author, and co-host of Crossfire.
Cheney has two adult daughters, [[Elizabeth Cheney|Elizabeth]] and [[Mary Cheney|Mary]], and four grandchildren. Elizabeth was born in [[1966]] and is married with four children. She graduated from the [[University of Chicago]] Law School in [[1996]] and has worked as an [[international law]] attorney, consultant, and now for the State Department's [[Near East Affairs Bureau]]. [[Mary Cheney|Mary]] is one of her father's top campaign aides and closest confidantes and lives in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]]. [[Mary Cheney|Mary's]] [[sexual orientation]] as a [[lesbian]] has become a source of increasing public attention for Dick Cheney in light of the recent [[same-sex marriage|same-sex]] [[marriage]] debate.
==Education==
Following high school, Cheney earned an academic scholarship and attended [[Yale University]] in [[1959]]. He decided after three semesters to take some time off from Yale, on account of difficulty with his studies. He saved up enough money and returned to Yale only to leave again the following semester partly due to poor grades. [http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=12444][http://www.facts.com/worldalmanac/election2000/wa-election-003.htm]
In [[1962]], when he was 21, he pleaded guilty to two [[drunk driving|DWIs]] in Wyoming. [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/cheneydwi1.html] [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/cheneydwi2.html] He was reputedly dissatisfied with his work at the time, and in an [[May 7]], [[1991]] ''[[New Yorker]]'' interview said that he found himself "working, building power lines, having been in a couple of scrapes with the law." 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."
Refocusing on academics, Cheney first matriculated to Casper Community College in [[1963]] and thereafter to the [[University of Wyoming]] where he began earning straight A's. He received his bachelor's degree in [[1965]] and master's degree in [[political science]] in [[1966]] both from the University of Wyoming.
He attended the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] as a doctoral candidate, but he left and entered politics before completing his doctorate. Cheney was selected for a one-year [[fellowship]] in the office of Representative [[William Steiger]], a Republican congressman from Wisconsin.
==Political career==
===Early White House appointments===
Dick Cheney's public service career began under the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] administration in [[1969]]. He served in a number of positions at the Cost of Living Council, at the [[United States Office of Economic Opportunity]] (as a special assistant to [[Donald Rumsfeld]] beginning in the spring of 1969), and within the [[White House]]. Under President [[Gerald Ford]], Cheney became Assistant to the President and [[White House Chief of Staff]]. He was campaign manager for Ford's [[1976]] presidential campaign, while [[James Baker]] served as campaign chairman.
===Congress===
[[Image:Dick Cheney Federal Building.jpg|250px|right|thumb|The Dick Cheney Federal Building in Casper, Wyoming.]]
In [[1978]], Cheney was elected to represent [[Wyoming]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]. 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 [[Minority Whip of the United States House of Representatives|House Minority Whip]].
During his tenure in the House, he voted (in 1979) against making [[Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.]]'s birthday a [[national holiday]], and was one of 330 who voted in favor of it in 1983.
He voted against the creation of the [[United States Department of Education|U.S. Department of Education]], and the imposition of [[sanctions]] upon [[South Africa]] for its official policy of [[apartheid]].
In 1986, Cheney, along with 145 Republicans and 31 Democrats, voted against a nonbinding Congressional resolution calling on the South African government to release [[Nelson Mandela]] from prison, after the majority Democrats defeated proposed amendments to the language that would have required Mandela to renounce violence sponsored by the [[ANC]] and requiring the ANC to oust the [[Communist]] faction from leadership. The resolution was defeated.[http://www.nationalreview.com/convention/guest_comment/guest_commentprint073100c.html] Appearing on CNN during the [[U.S. presidential election, 2000| Presidential campaign in 2000]], 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."[http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/07/30/talk.wrap/index.html]
As a Wyoming representative, he was also known for his vigorous advocacy of the state's [[petroleum]] and [[coal]] businesses. The federal building in [[Casper, Wyoming|Casper]], a regional center of the oil and coal business, was named the "Dick Cheney Federal Building" for him.
===Cabinet===
Cheney served as the [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] from [[March]] [[1989]] to [[January]] [[1993]] under President [[George H. W. Bush]]. He directed [[Operation Just Cause]] in Panama and [[Operation Desert Storm]] in the Middle East. In [[1991]] he was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] for "preserving America's defenses at a time of great change around the world."
Cheney joined the [[American Enterprise Institute]] after leaving office in [[1993]]. In [[1995]] he became [[Chairman of the board|Chairman]] and [[CEO]] of [[Halliburton Company]], a worldwide energy services corporation with a long history of service to the government. Some Halliburton subsidiaries serve as [[private military contractor]]s. He also sat on the [[Board of directors|board]] of [[Procter & Gamble]], [[Union Pacific]], and [[EDS]].
In [[1997]], he, along with [[Donald Rumsfeld]] and others, founded the non-profit educational organization called the [[Project for the New American Century]] whose goal is to "promote American global leadership".
===Vice Presidency===
[[Image:Dick Cheney at the 2003 State of the Union.jpg|thumb|right|250px|President George Bush's [[2003]] State of the Union address. Over the President's right shoulder is Cheney; over his left is [[Dennis Hastert]].]]
In the spring of [[2000]], while still serving as Halliburton's CEO, he headed George W. Bush's Vice-Presidential search committee. After reviewing Cheney's findings, Bush surprised pundits by asking Cheney himself to join the Republican ticket. Cheney resigned as CEO on [[July 25]], and put all of his corporate shares and [[stock option]]s into a charitable trust. Cheney's net worth, estimated to be between $30 million and $100 million, is largely derived from his post at Halliburton. However, in July [[2004]] Cheney still received severance payments from Halliburton. This raised questions in America about a possible conflict of interest, since Halliburton was granted over $10 billion in no-bid contracts for the rebuilding effort following the war in Iraq.
In the 2000 presidential election, a question was raised by the Democrats as to Cheney's state of residency since he had been living in Texas. A lawsuit was brought in ''[[Jones v. Bush]]'' attempting to invalidate electoral votes from Texas, but was rejected by a Federal district court in Texas.
Cheney quickly earned a reputation as a very "hands-on" Vice President, taking an active role in cabinet meetings and policy formation. He is often described as the most active Vice President in recent years, moving the office out of its traditional [[figurehead]] role.
Cheney directed the National Energy Policy Development Group (N.E.P.D.G.)[http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/] commonly known as the [[Energy task force]]. This group included Enron executives who worked as team members despite the ongoing [[Enron scandal]]. In July [[2003]], the Supreme Court ordered the Department of Commerce to make the N.E.P.D.G.'s documents public. The documents included information on companies that had made agreements with Saddam Hussein to develop Iraq's oil. The documents also included maps of oil deposits in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates. The N.E.P.D.G.'s report contains several chapters, covering topics such as environmental protection, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy security. Critics focus on the eighth chapter, [http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/Chapter8.pdf "Strengthening Global Alliances,"] claiming that this chapter urges military actions to remove strategic, political, and economic obstacles to increased U.S. consumption of oil. Others point out that the report contains no such recommendation.
Following the uncertainty immediately after the events of [[September 11]], [[2001]], 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 and communicating with the White House via secure video phones.
[[Image:20040702_vp-grandson-hw9v525-517v.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne with their fourth grandchild, Philip Richard Perry (born in Washington, D.C., [[July 2]], [[2004]]). His parents are Liz Cheney and Phil Perry, the daughter and son-in-law of the Cheneys.]]
On the morning of [[June 29]], [[2002]], Cheney became only the second man in history to serve as [[Acting President of the United States]] under the terms of the [[25th Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]], while President Bush was undergoing a [[colonoscopy]]. Cheney acted as President from 10:09 [[UTC]] that day until Bush resumed control at 13:24 UTC.
Supporters of Vice President Cheney point to his reputation as a very shrewd, knowledgeable, and businessman and politician who knows the functions and runnings of the federal government. Opponents such as Joe Guzzardi, a columnist for a small weekly newspaper in California and part-time English instructor, accuse him of supporting decisions that indirectly subsidize the oil industry and major government contractors, and hold that Cheney strongly influenced the decision to use military force in Iraq. Cheney's alleged dishonesty over the justifications for the Iraq conflict has caused further controversy. Of course, as Vice President, he should be involved in major government decisions.
[[U.S. Office of Government Ethics]] public financial disclosure sheets stated that Cheney received $162,392 in [[deferred compensation]] in 2002 from Halliburton and $205,298 in [[2001]]. Although this compensation was contractually arranged prior to Cheney becoming Vice President, and upon his nomination as a vice-presidential candidate Cheney purchased an insurance policy to guarantee the payment of the deferred salary regardless of how Halliburton performed, Cheney's critics have suggested this was related to the [[United States Department of Defense|US Defense Department's]] subsequent awarding of $2 billion in "no-bid, no-ceiling" contracts to [[Kellogg, Brown and Root]], a subsidiary of [[Halliburton]], for reconstruction in [[Iraq]].
Cheney sold his Halliburton shares when he left the company to join Bush's ticket, but retained 433,333 stock options worth about $8 million, which he placed in a charitable trust out of his control.
<!--[[Image:dickcheneyrifle.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Dick Cheney accepts a rifle from [[National Rifle Association]] President [[Kayne Robinson]].]] Possible copyvio-->
In an interview in Fox News, Sunday, February 6th 2005, he insisted that he was not a candidate for the Republican Presidential Nomination in 2008.
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource author}}
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/ Official homepage at whitehouse.gov]
* [http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/presbush/cheney.htm US Department of State]
* [http://www.georgewbush.com/Bios/DickCheney.aspx Cheney Biography from the Bush '04 Campaign Website]
* [http://www.hierarchypedia.com/wiki/index.php/Cheney_family Cheney family genealogy]
* [http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Dick_Cheney.php Dick Cheney's political donations]
* [http://www.halliburton.com/news/archive/2003/article_101703.jsp Halliburton's Mission]
* [http://newyorker.com/archive/content/?040906fr_archive06 Biographical article incorporating Cheney family interviews]
* [http://www.ecoresearch.net/election2004/candidate?s=cheney Dick Cheney Media Profile] - Attention and Attitude of International Media
* [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us317911/us53828/us71848/us285850/us525984/us947790/ Looksmart - Dick Cheney] directory category
* [http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Executive_Branch/George_W__Bush_Administration/Cheney__Richard___Vice_President/ Yahoo! - Richard Cheney] directory category
*[http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=xGmMghBV8jodL8t7x2Vig2%3D%3D The Radical: What Dick Cheney Really Believes]
*[http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2004/07/01/cheney/index.html The fall of a "statesman"]
*[http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/06/24/halliburton/index.html The United States of Texas] — Two new books document the hold that Bush, Cheney and their corporate allies have on America
*[http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/31/dean/index.html Creepier than Nixon] — The man who brought down Richard Nixon claims that Bush and "co-president" Cheney are an even greater threat to the country
*[http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/30/news-ireland.php The Cheney Connection] — Tracing the Halliburton money trail to Nigeria
*[http://www.alternet.org/story/18957/ Playing Contractopoly with Halliburton] — Allegations about Cheney's involvement in granting contracts in Iraq to his former employer, Halliburton
*[http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story?id=6450422&pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single7&rnd=1094003520950&has-player=true The Curse of Dick Cheney] — A cynical look at Dick Cheney's political career
*[http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/dickcheney/ the fifth estate: The Unauthorized Biography of Dick Cheney] - [[CBC]] News documentary
*[http://www.vdare.com/guzzardi/agnew.htm Joe Guzzardi: My Doubts About Cheney]
*[http://dir.salon.com/news/col/cona/2000/08/01/south_africa/index.html] — Cheney's questionable Congressional record
*[http;//www.whitehouse.org/mrscheney]
*'''Works'''
**''Professional Military Education: An Asset for Peace and Progress : A Report of the Csis Study Group on Professional Military Education (Csis Report)'' [[1997]] (ISBN 0892062975)
**''Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History'' [[1996]] (ISBN 0756758645)
*'''References'''
**Andrews, Elaine. ''Dick Cheney: A Life Of Public Service''. Millbrook Press, 2001. ISBN 0761323066
**Mann, James. ''Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet''. Viking, 2004. ISBN 0670032999
**Nichols, John. ''Dick: The Man Who is President''. New Press, 2004. ISBN 1565848403
*'''Speeches and interviews'''
**[http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/pubs/soref/cheney.htm Cheney at the Washington Institute's Soref Symposium outlining his analysis of Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, April 29, 1991]
**[http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/192908_cheney29.html Article containing quotes from a speech on Iraq that Cheney gave in 1992]
**[http://www.fed-soc.org/Publications/Transcripts/cheney.htm Cheney speech given to the Federalist Society in 2001]
**[http://www.nationalreview.com/document/document082702.asp Cheney speech given to the Veterans of Foreign Wars 103rd convention in 2003]
**[http://www.townhall.com/audio/CONTENT/Allison/Lehrman-092403a.ram Cheney speech to The Heritage Foundation in 2003 (video)](requires [http://www.realnetworks.com/info/freeplayer/ RealPlayer])
**[http://www.jerrybowyer.com/audio.php?id=961 Jerry Bowyer interviews Cheney, March 1, 2004]
**[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040503-11.html Interview of the Vice President by Dave Elswick, KARN, May 3, 2004 (audio and text)]
**[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123794,00.html Neil Cavuto interviews Cheney on Fox News, June 25, 2004]
**Scott Hennen interviews Cheney, July 22, 2004 (audio): [http://www.talkradionews.com/mediafiles/1730.mp3 part 1], [http://www.talkradionews.com/mediafiles/1731.mp3 part 2], [http://www.talkradionews.com/mediafiles/1732.mp3 part 3]
**[http://www.gopconvention.com/rewind/wed.shtml Cheney's Republican National Convention speech, September 1, 2004 (audio and text)]
** [http://mfile.akamai.com/6713/wma/glennbeck.download.akamai.com/6713/preview/04/09/cheney-interview.asx Glenn Beck interviews Cheney, September 24, 2004 (audio)]
**Vice Presidential Debate, October 5th, 2004: [http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004b.html Transcript text],[http://cspanquery.streamsage.com/query/playback.smil?XslFile=realplayer.xsl&contentType=text/smil&FILEID=139&WD=true&search=&numDisplay=10&startValue=1&sortBy=file_date&sortOrder=desc&program=&source=&div_display=none&startDate=2004-01-01&endDate=&s Audio] and Video ([http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/politics/100504-16v.ram RealPlayer] or [http://www.archive.org/movies/movies-details-db.php?collection=election_2004&collectionid=vice_presidential_debate_10_5_04 MPG] format)
{{start box}}
{{succession box | title=[[White House Chief of Staff]] | before=[[Donald Rumsfeld]] | after=[[Hamilton Jordan]] | years=1975–1977}}
{{succession box | title=[[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] | before=[[Frank C. Carlucci]] | after=[[Les Aspin]] | years=1989–1993}}
{{succession box | title=[[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]]<br /> [[Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidential]] [[:Category:U.S. Republican Party vice presidential nominees|candidate]] | before=[[Jack Kemp]] | after=Current incumbent | years=2000 (won), 2004 (won)}}
{{succession box | title=[[Vice President of the United States]] | before=[[Al Gore]] | after=Current incumbent | years=2001–}}
{{end box}}
[[Category:1941 births|Cheney, Dick]]
[[Category:Cold War people|Cheney, Dick]]
[[Category:U.S. Republican Party vice presidential nominees|Cheney, Dick]]
[[Category:U.S. Secretaries of Defense|Cheney, Dick]]
[[Category:Vice Presidents of the U.S.|Cheney, Dick]]
[[Category:Methodists|Cheney, Dick]]
[[Category:People from Nebraska|Cheney, Dick]]
[[da:Richard B. Cheney]]
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