Near the end of his tenure, Cheney did not run for president as theRepublican nominee in the2008 presidential election and endorsedJohn McCain, who became the nominee andselectedAlaska governorSarah Palin as his running mate. They lost the 2008 election to the Democratic ticket of junior Illinois senatorBarack Obama and his running mate, senior Delaware senatorJoe Biden. As vice president in his capacity as thepresident of the Senate, Cheney oversaw the certification of Obama and Biden as the winners of the election on January 8, 2009. Bush and Cheney were succeeded in office by Obama and Biden onJanuary 20, 2009. Cheney ended his vice presidential tenure as a deeply unpopular figure in American politics, with an approval rating of 13 percent.
Following theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks, Cheney remained physically apart from Bush for security reasons. For a period, Cheney stayed at a variety of undisclosed locations, out of public view.[5] Cheney later revealed in his memoirIn My Time that these "undisclosed locations" included his official vice presidential residence, his home in Wyoming, andCamp David.[6] He also utilized a heavy security detail, employing a motorcade of 12 to 18 government vehicles for his daily commute from the vice presidential residence atNumber One Observatory Circle to the White House.[7]
On the morning of June 29, 2002, Cheney served asacting president from 7:09a.m. to 9:24a.m., under the terms of the25th Amendment to the Constitution, while Bush underwent acolonoscopy.[8][9]
Cheney speaks to US troops atCamp Anaconda, Iraq, in 2008.
Following 9/11, Cheney was instrumental in providing a primary justification for a renewed war against Iraq. Cheney helped shape Bush's approach to the "War on Terror", making numerous public statements alleging Iraq possessedweapons of mass destruction,[10] and making several personal visits to CIA headquarters, where he questioned mid-level agency analysts on their conclusions.[11] Cheney continued toallege links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, even though President Bush received a classified President's Daily Brief on September 21, 2001, indicating the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11 attacks and that "there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda."[12] Furthermore, in 2004, the9/11 Commission concluded that there was no "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al-Qaeda.[13] By 2014, Cheney continued to misleadingly claim that Saddam "had a 10-year relationship with al Qaeda."[14]
Following the US invasion of Iraq, Cheney remained steadfast in his support of the war, stating that it would be an "enormous success story",[15] and made many visits to the country. He often criticizedwar critics, calling them "opportunists" who were peddling "cynical and pernicious falsehoods" to gain political advantage while US soldiers died in Iraq. In response, SenatorJohn Kerry asserted, "It is hard to name a government official with less credibility on Iraq [than Cheney]."[16]
In a March 24, 2008, extended interview conducted in Ankara, Turkey, with ABC News correspondentMartha Raddatz on the fifth anniversary of the original U.S. military assault on Iraq, Cheney responded to a question about public opinion polls showing that Americans had lost confidence in the war by simply replying "So?"[17] This remark prompted widespread criticism, including from formerOklahoma Republican CongressmanMickey Edwards, a long-time personal friend of Cheney.[18]
The Bush–Cheney ticket won the 2004 presidential election with 50.7% of the popular vote and 286 electoral votes.
Bush and Cheney were re-elected in the2004 presidential election, running againstJohn Kerry and his running mate,John Edwards. During the election, the pregnancy of his daughterMary and hersexual orientation as a lesbian became a source of public attention for Cheney in light of thesame-sex marriage debate.[19][20] Cheney has since stated that he is in favor of gay marriages personally, but that each individual U.S. state should decide whether to permit it or not.[21][22] Cheney's former chief legal counsel,David Addington,[23] became his chief of staff and remained in that office until Cheney's departure from office.John P. Hannah served as Cheney's national security adviser.[24]Until his indictment and resignation[25] in 2005,I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. served in both roles.[26]
On the morning of July 21, 2007, Cheney once again served as acting president, from 7:16 am to 9:21 am. 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.[27]
After his term began in 2001, Cheney was occasionally asked if he was interested in the Republican nomination for the2008 presidential election. However, he always maintained that he wished to retire upon the expiration of his term and he did not run in the2008 presidential primaries. The Republicans nominated Arizona SenatorJohn McCain.[28]
Cheney was a prominent member of the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG),[29] commonly known as theEnergy Task Force, composed of energy industry representatives, including severalEnron executives. After theEnron scandal, the Bush administration was accused of improper political and business ties. In July 2003, theSupreme Court ruled that theUS Department of Commerce must disclose NEPDG documents, containing references to companies that had made agreements with the previous Iraqi government to extract Iraq's petroleum.[30]
Beginning in 2003, Cheney's staff opted not to file required reports with theNational Archives and Records Administration office charged with assuring that the executive branch protects classified information, nor did it allow inspection of its record keeping.[31]Cheney refused to release the documents, citing his executive privilege to deny congressional information requests.[32][33] Media outlets such asTime magazine andCBS News questioned whether Cheney had created a "fourth branch of government" that was not subject to any laws.[34] A group of historians and open-government advocates filed a lawsuit in theUS District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to declare that Cheney's vice-presidential records are covered by thePresidential Records Act of 1978 and cannot be destroyed, taken or withheld from the public without proper review.[35][36][37][38]
Handwritten note aboveJoe Wilson's editorial by Cheney referring to the covert agent before the leak took place
On October 18, 2005,The Washington Post reported that the vice president's office was central to the investigation of theValerie Plame CIA leak scandal, for Cheney's former chief of staff,Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was one of the figures under investigation.[39] Libby resigned his positions as Cheney's chief of staff and assistant on national security affairs later in the month after he was indicted.
In February 2006,The National Journal reported that Libby had stated before agrand jury that his superiors, including Cheney, had authorized him to disclose classified information to the press regarding intelligence on Iraq's weapons.[40] That September,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.[41]
On March 6, 2007, Libby was convicted on fourfelony counts for obstruction of justice,perjury, and making false statements to federal investigators.[42] In his closing arguments, independent prosecutorPatrick Fitzgerald said that there was "a cloud over the vice president",[43] an apparent reference to Cheney's interview with FBI agents investigating the case, which was made public in 2009.[44] Cheney lobbied President George W. Bush vigorously and unsuccessfully to grant Libby a fullpresidential pardon up to the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, likening Libby to a "soldier on the battlefield".[45][46] Libby was subsequently pardoned by PresidentDonald Trump in April 2018.[47]
The incident was reported to theCorpus Christi Caller-Times on February12, 2006, by ranch owner Katherine Armstrong.[51] TheBush administration disclosed the shooting incident to the public the afternoon of February12. Local authorities released a report on the shooting on February16, 2006, and witness statements on February22.
On February14, 2006, Whittington suffered a non-fatalheart attack andatrial fibrillation due to at least onelead shot lodged in or near his heart.[52] He also had acollapsed lung. Cheney did not speak publicly about the incident until February15 in an interview withFox News. Early reports indicated that Cheney and Whittington were friends and that the injuries were minor. Whittington later clarified that he and Cheney were not close friends but acquaintances.[53]
The sheriff's office released a report on the shooting on February 16, 2006, and witness statements on February 22, indicating that the shooting occurred on a clear sunny day, and Whittington was shot from 30 or 40 yards (40 m) away while searching for a downed bird. Armstrong, the ranch owner, claimed that all in the hunting party were wearing blaze-orange safety gear and none had been drinking.[54] However, Cheney has acknowledged that he had one beer four or five hours prior to the shooting.[55] Although Kenedy County Sheriff's Office documents support the official story by Cheney and his party, re-creations of the incident produced by George Gongora and John Metz of theCorpus Christi Caller-Times indicated that the actual shooting distance was closer than the 30 yards claimed.[56]
The incident hurt Cheney's popularity standing in the polls.[57] According to polls on February 27, 2006, two weeks after the accident, Dick Cheney's approval rating had dropped 5 percentage points to 18%.[58] The incident became the subject of a number of jokes and satire.[59]
Vice President Cheney speaks to the press flanked by fellow RepublicansMitch McConnell (left) andTrent Lott (right), April 2007.
On February 27, 2007, at about 10 am, a suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded 20 more outsideBagram Airfield in Afghanistan during a visit by Cheney. TheTaliban claimed responsibility for the attack and declared that Cheney was its intended target. They also claimed thatOsama bin Laden supervised the operation.[60] The bomb went off outside the front gate 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."[61] The purpose of Cheney's visit to the region had been to press Pakistan for a united front against the Taliban.[62]
Cheney has been characterized as the most powerful and influential Vice President in history.[63][64]Both supporters and critics of Cheney regard him as a shrewd and knowledgeable politician who knows the functions and intricacies of the federal government. A sign of Cheney's active policy-making role was then-House SpeakerDennis Hastert's provision of an office near the House floor for Cheney[65] in addition to his office in theWest Wing,[66] his ceremonial office in the Old Executive Office Building,[67] and his Senate offices (one in theDirksen Senate Office Building and another off the floor of the Senate).[65][68]
In June 2007,The Washington Post summarized Cheney's vice presidency in aPulitzer Prize-winning[71]four-part series, based in part on interviews with former administration officials. The articles characterized Cheney not as a "shadow" president, but as someone who usually has the last words of counsel to the president on policies, which in many cases would reshape the powers of the presidency. When former Vice PresidentDan Quayle suggested to Cheney that the office was largely ceremonial, Cheney reportedly replied, "I have a different understanding with the president." The articles described Cheney as having a secretive approach to the tools of government, indicated by the use of his own security classification and three man-sized safes in his offices.[72]
The articles described Cheney's influence on decisions pertaining to detention of suspected terrorists and the legal limits that apply to their questioning, especially what constitutestorture.[73]U.S. Army ColonelLawrence Wilkerson, who served as Colin Powell's chief of staff when he was bothChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the same time Cheney was Secretary of Defense, and then later when Powell wasSecretary of State, stated in an in-depth interview that Cheney andDonald Rumsfeld established an alternative program to interrogate post-9/11 detainees because of their mutual distrust ofCIA.[74]
The Washington Post articles, principally written byBarton Gellman, further characterized Cheney as having the strongest influence within the administration in shaping budget and tax policy in a manner that assures "conservative orthodoxy."[75] They also highlighted Cheney's behind-the-scenes influence on theBush administration's environmental policy to ease pollution controls for power plants, facilitate the disposal of nuclear waste, open access to federal timber resources, and avoid federal constraints ongreenhouse gas emissions, among other issues. The articles characterized his approach to policy formulation as favoring business over the environment.[76]
In June 2008, Cheney allegedly attempted to block efforts by Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice to strike a controversial US compromise deal withNorth Korea over the communist state's nuclear program.[77]
In July 2008, a formerEnvironmental Protection Agency official stated publicly that Cheney's office had pushed significantly for large-scale deletions from aCenters for Disease Control and Prevention report on thehealth effects of global warming "fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases."[78] In October, when the report appeared with six pages cut from the testimony, the White House stated that the changes were made due to concerns regarding the accuracy of the science. However, according to the former senior adviser on climate change to Environmental Protection Agency AdministratorStephen Johnson, Cheney's office was directly responsible for nearly half of the original testimony being deleted.[78]
On February 14, 2010, in an appearance onABC'sThis Week, Cheney reiterated his support ofwaterboarding and for the torture of captured terrorist suspects, saying, "I was and remain a strong proponent of ourenhanced interrogation program."[80]
Cheney's early public opinion polls were more favorable than unfavorable, reaching his peak approval rating in the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks at 68 percent.[83] However, polling numbers for both him and the president gradually declined in their second terms,[83][84] with Cheney reaching his lowest point shortly before leaving office at 13 percent.[85][84][86] Cheney'sGallup poll figures are mostly consistent with those from other polls:[83][87]
April 2001 – 63% approval, 21% disapproval
January 2002 – 68% approval, 18% disapproval
January 2004 – 56% approval, 36% disapproval
January 2005 – 50% approval, 40% disapproval
January 2006 – 41% approval, 46% disapproval
July 2007 – 30% approval, 60% disapproval
March 2009 – 30% approval, 63% disapproval
In April 2007, Cheney was awarded an honorary doctorate of public service byBrigham Young University, where he delivered the commencement address.[88] His selection as commencement speaker was controversial. The college board of trustees issued a statement explaining that the invitation 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".[89] BYU permitted a protest to occur so long as it did not "make personal attacks against Cheney, attack (the) BYU administration, thechurch or theFirst Presidency".[90]
InEminem's 2002 single "Without Me", where the lines "I know that you got a job, Ms. Cheney / But your husband's heart problem's complicated" refer to hishealth problems.
Bob Rivers did a parody cover called "Cheney's Got a Gun"[95]
In an episode entitled "Dick Cheney" during the first-season run of thedramedyPatriot aired onAmazon Prime, protagonist John Lakeman shoots his rival with a shotgun while the two were conducting a duck hunt, referencing events surrounding theDick Cheney hunting accident.
Cheney has been cited as the most powerful vice president in American history.[3][4][96][97] He has been compared toDarth Vader, a characterization originated by his critics, but which was later adopted humorously by Cheney himself as well as by members of his family and staff.[98] When Joe Bidensucceeded Cheney as vice president, Biden said he intended to eliminate some explicit roles assumed by Cheney, and did not intend to emulate any previous vice presidency.[99] However, at the end ofBiden's vice presidency, his high level of influence as vice president was seen as second only to Cheney.[97][96]
InJon Meacham's bookDestiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, published in November 2015, the 41st president, although also laudatory of Cheney, is in part critical of the former vice president, whom Bush describes as "having his own empire" and "very hard-line."[100] Cheney opposedDonald Trump in the2024 presidential election, and endorsed Joe Biden's vice presidentKamala Harris over Trump.[101]
^abWith Republican vice presidentDick Cheney provides the tie-breaking vote, the Republicans also holding a majority in the Senate since January 20, 2001. In June 2001,Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party and began caucusing with the Democrats, giving the Democrats a majority.
^abc17 days of the 107th Congress (January 3, 2001 – January 19, 2001) took place under Vice President Gore, and 17 days of the 111th Congress (January 3, 2009 – January 19, 2009) took place during Cheney's vice presidency.
^Walsh, Kenneth T. (October 5, 2003)."The Man Behind the Curtain".U.S. News & World Report.Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. RetrievedJanuary 11, 2009.
^Froomkin, Dan (August 22, 2006)."Inside the Real West Wing".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. RetrievedJanuary 3, 2008.
^Brazelon, Emily (November 18, 2007)."All the President's Powers".The New York Times.Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. RetrievedNovember 18, 2007.
^Republican seats at the start of each session of Congress. Independents caucusing with the Democratic Party (Jim Jeffords,Bernie Sanders, andJoe Lieberman) are counted as Democrats for the purposes of this table. Throughout Bush's presidency, there were a total of 100 Senate seats in 435 House seats, so a Republican majority in the Senate required 50 seats (since Republican Vice PresidentDick Cheney could provide thetie-breaking vote), and a Republican majority in the House required 218 seats (assuming no vacancies).
Goldstein, Joel K. "The contemporary presidency: Cheney, vice presidential power, and the war on terror."Presidential Studies Quarterly 40.1 (2010): 102–139.online
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