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Dick Cheney
has built a formidable record in Washington, D.C. as the supportive
role of the discreet and loyal adviser in four U.S. presidential
administrations. Whether in Congress, at the White House, or the
Pentagon, Cheney has demonstrated an ability to execute his assigned
duties with the smooth efficiency of a chief executive, marked
by a reserved yet forthright demeanor.
 When
GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush selected Cheney, former
defense secretary in his father's administration, as his vice
presidential running mate in July 2000, pundits remarked that
Cheney would make up for Mr. Bush's lack of experience in foreign
and defense affairs.
Cheney's understated,
though steadfast, manner may in part be credited to his personal
roots in the western United States.
Richard Bruce
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Neb. on Jan. 30, 1941, the son of
Richard Herbert Cheney and Marjorie Lauraine Dickey Cheney, both
loyal Democrats. His family moved to Casper, Wyo. after his father,
who worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, was transferred
there. During high school, Cheney was the captain of the football
team and class president and dated Lynne Vincent, the homecoming
queen and Cheney's future wife.
After high
school, Cheney won a scholarship to attend Yale University --
the alma mater of three generations of the Bush family -- but
flunked out less than two years later. Upon returning to Wyoming,
Cheney rekindled his relationship with Lynne and got a union job
as a power lineman. Dissatisfied with the work, he reportedly
began drinking more, leading to two DUI arrests within a year.
Determined to change his life direction, Cheney enrolled at the
University of Wyoming, where he earned bachelor and masters degrees
in political science in 1965 and 1966, respectively. A year before
finishing his BA, he married Lynne, whom he credits with motivating
him to return to school and apply himself.
In college,
Cheney read Winston Churchill, whose multivolume history of World
War II impressed upon him the idea that leadership in world affairs
is about recognizing dangers and confronting them rather than
wishing them away.
During the
Vietnam War, Cheney supported the U.S. military effort, but claimed
student and family-related deferments between 1963 and 1966. The
next year, he turned 26 and became ineligible for the draft.
After winning
a congressional fellowship in 1968, Cheney and his family moved
to Washington, D.C., where he was to complete his Ph.D. dissertation
in political science. Once in the nation's capital, Cheney's ambitions
shifted from academia to applied politics.
-- By
Liz Harper, Online NewsHour
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