Elizabeth Lynne Cheney is an American lawyer and politician who has represented Wyoming’s congressional district at-large since 2017. From 2019 to 2021, she presided over the House Republican Conference, the third-highest post in the House Republican leadership.
Childhood and Education
Richard Bruce Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on January 30, 1941, as Dick Cheney. With his mother Marjorie, father Richard, and two younger siblings, Bob and Susan, he grew up in Casper, Wyoming.
Richard was a soil conservation agent for the United States Department of Agriculture, and Mary was a successful softball player in the 1930s.
Dick attended College View Elementary School (now known as Calvert Elementary School) in Lincoln and Natrona County High School in Casper, where he was president of his senior class and football captain.
After graduating from high school, Cheney enrolled at Yale University but dropped out due to bad academics less than two years later. In 1962 and 1963, he was detained twice for driving under the influence after leaving Yale.
Later, he attended Caspar College and earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Wyoming. He began doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1966 but dropped out to become a staff assistant to Governor Warren Knowles.
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Political Profession
In 1968, Cheney was awarded a congressional fellowship by the American Political Science Association and moved to Washington, D.C. to intern for Congressman William Steiger.
Cheney worked for Donald Rumsfeld in the Office of Economic Opportunity from 1969 to 1970 and then served as a White House staff assistant and assistant director of the Cost of Living Council in the years that followed.
During the presidency of Gerald Ford, Cheney served as Deputy Assistant to the President and later as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the White House. He also served as campaign manager for the 1976 presidential campaign of Gerald Ford.
In 1978, Cheney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Wyoming, his home state. He was re-elected five times and served as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee of the House from 1981 to 1987. Cheney was elected House Minority Whip in 1988 and served as George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense from 1989 to 1993.
Dick was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official for directing the military campaigns Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm as Secretary of Defense.
Private Sector Profession
Cheney left the Department of Defense in 1993 after Bill Clinton became president. From 1993 to 1995, Dick joined the American Enterprise Institute and completed his second term as a director of the Council on Foreign Relations (he served his first term from 1987 to 1989).
Cheney worked as CEO and Chairman of the Board for the oilfield services company Halliburton from 1995 to 2000 and reportedly got a $20 million retirement payout when he resigned to join the government of George W. Bush.
In 2002, shareholders of Halliburton launched a class-action lawsuit accusing the corporation of securities fraud; the case was settled in 2016 for $100 million. In 2010, the Nigerian government charged Cheney and Halliburton with corruption; the accusations were withdrawn after the corporation agreed to pay a $250 million settlement.
Vice Presidency
Cheney served as George W. Bush’s vice president from 2001 until 2009, during which time he actively and openly influenced White House policy, particularly regarding foreign policy, environmental policy, and the treatment of prisoners of war.
Cheney played a pivotal role in the administration’s approach to the “War on Terror,” openly asserting that Iraq possessed WMD and ties to Al Qaeda. Cheney served as acting president twice as Bush underwent minor medical operations needing anesthesia during his vice presidency: from 11:09 a.m. to 1:24 p.m. on June 29, 2002, and from 7:16 a.m. to 9:21 a.m. on July 21, 2007.
On February 27, 2007, as Vice President Cheney was visiting the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, a suicide explosion happened outside the main gate, killing 23 persons and wounding 20 more.
The Taliban claimed responsibility, claiming that the attack was ordered by Osama bin Laden and that Cheney was the intended target. During his time in office, Cheney was frequently attacked for his backing of the administration’s “enhanced interrogation program,” which included the use of waterboarding on captured terrorists. When he left office, his approval rating was barely 13%.
After the Vice Presidency
Following the Bush administration, Cheney resigned from public office. “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir” was published in 2011 and “Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America” was published in 2015. Two years after his sixth heart attack, on March 24, 2012, Cheney got a heart transplant.
Net Worth
The net worth of American politician, novelist, and business executive Dick Cheney is $150 million. Many believe Cheney, who served as the 46th Vice President of the United States under President George W. Bush, to be the most powerful vice president in American history.
Cheney is most known for his lengthy career in the Republican party, but his $100 million net worth suggests profitable private sector roots.
Real Estate
On January 12, 2000, Cheney spent $1.35 million for a small lot in McLean, Virginia. In 2008, he demolished the previous home and began building a 12,762-square-foot residence.
Dick purchased a waterfront mansion in Saint Michaels, Maryland for $2.67 million in 2005 and sold it for $2.1 million in 2019. Cheney owns a residence in Wyoming.
What’s the Interesting Thing About Her Personal Life?
In 1964, Dick wed his high school love, Lynne Vincent. Elizabeth, born on July 28, 1966, and Mary, born on March 14, 1969, are their two daughters.
In 2017, Liz assumed her father’s former congressional seat, while Mary served as Director of Vice Presidential Operations for Bush and Cheney’s re-election campaign.
Liz is married to Philip J. Perry and has five children, while Mary and her spouse Heather Poe have two. Cheney advocated for same-sex marriage after leaving office, and in 2012 he urged Maryland lawmakers to approve it.
On February 11, 2006, while shooting quail in Kenedy County, Texas, Cheney unintentionally shot acquaintance Harry Whittington.
Whittington sustained birdshot wounds to his chest, neck, and right cheek on February 14th, and due to the proximity of a pellet to his heart, he suffered a heart attack and atrial fibrillation. Whittington survived, and the Kenedy County Sheriff’s Office exonerated Cheney of criminal culpability.