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Dick Cheney Bio

Dick Cheney

Throughout U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney’s long political career, he has come under fire for many different things, both in his personal life and his work, making it no surprise that during his present term, he has maintained he will retire back to the private sector when his time as vice president has been completed.

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney was born on January 30, 1941, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and later moved to Casper, Wyoming, while still a child. One thing he has come under fire for is his avoidance of the draft, as he filed for and received five separate deferments. Cheney was doing poorly in his studies at Yale when the draft first began, and left a few years later to return home, working for a power company. When he became eligible for the draft, he enrolled in a community college and sought s student deferment. Later, Cheney transferred to the University of Wyoming, and received his second deferment.

Cheney married Lynne Vincent, his high school sweetheart, and received a third deferment. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, he enrolled in graduate studies, and received his fourth deferment. Nine months after the laws changed allowing married men without children to be drafted, the Cheney’s had their first child, Elizabeth, who is now married to Philip J Perry, general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security. During the pregnancy, Cheney had sought yet another deferment. One year later, he was ineligible for the draft, because of his age. A few years after this, the Cheneys had a second daughter, Mary. As a lesbian, she has brought attention to Cheney’s views on same-sex marriages, and also works as one of his top campaign aides. During this time, Cheney also had two drunk driving arrests.

It was during the Nixon administration that Cheney entered into politics, serving three different roles. He then worked as vice president of an investment firm, before returning to politics as deputy assistant to President Gerald R Ford. It was then he started a working relationship with Donald Rumsfeld. The two joined forces and convinced President Ford to fire James Schlesinger as defense secretary and Henry Kissinger as national security advisor, and convinced Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to retire. Rumsfeld became secretary of defense, and Cheney the youngest chief of staff.

With President Ford losing a reelection bid, Cheney was voted into the U.S. House of Representatives. During his tenure, he was named chairman of the Republican National Committee, as well as House Minority Whip. He was then named the secretary of defense under President George H W Bush, after his first choice, John G Tower, was rejected by the Senate. Cheney worked closely with General Colin Powell as joint chiefs of staff during the Gulf War. He was also instrumental in the reevaluation of NATO and getting the defense budget under control, although his wishes weren’t always followed.

With President Bill Clinton in control in the White House, Cheney returned to working for the private sector, becoming chairman of the board and CEO of Halliburton Energy Services, which sold supplies to Iraq. He also filmed a cameo appearance in the movie Die Hard 3 with Bruce Willis.

Hired initially by George W Bush to search for an appropriate running mate for Bush’s presidential bid, Bush later shocked everyone by naming Cheney to the role. Seen as one of the most influential vice presidents in history, Cheney resigned from Halliburton, but stayed on the payroll, causing a conflict of interest when Halliburton’s services were used for the rebuilding of Iraq.

Of course, Cheney has come under fire for many other things as well in his vice presidency, such as many believing he was behind the decision to invade Iraq. The controversies even continue into Cheney’s private life, as while on a hunting expedition in 2006, he accidentally shot another hunter, mistaking him for a quail, and causing him to go into cardiac arrest. Cheney has had health problems as well, having had four separate heart attacks, starting when he was thirty-seven. It was President Bush’s health problems, though, that caused Cheney to temporarily become Acting President of the U.S.A. while President Bush was undergoing a colonoscopy.

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Facts:
Dick Cheney - Was deputy assistant to President Gerald R Ford .
Dick Cheney - Was secretary of defence under President George H W Bush .
Dick Cheney - Filmed a cameo appearance in 'Die Hard 3' with Bruce Willis .
Dick Cheney - Alberto Gonzalez fought to keep Dick Cheney's Energy task force documents from being reviewed.
Dick Cheney - After George W Bush and Dick Cheney's re-election‚ Nancy Peloci believed the Democrats should persue impeachment proceedings against the President.
Dick Cheney - Dick Cheney had voted against a congressional resolution calling for Nelson Mandela 's release from prison.