Richard "Dick" Cheney is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President [[George W. Bush]]. Born on January 30, 1941, in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney grew up in Casper, Wyoming, and began his political career in the 1960s. ## Education and early career Cheney attended Yale University before transferring to the University of Wyoming, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1965 and a Master of Arts degree in political science in 1966. He later pursued a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison but did not complete the program. Cheney's political career began in 1969 when he joined the [[Richard Nixon]] administration as a special assistant to [[Donald Rumsfeld]], who was then the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. He held various positions within the Nixon and Ford administrations, eventually becoming the White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977. ## Congressional career In 1978, Cheney was elected to the U.S. [[House of Representatives]] from Wyoming, where he served six terms from 1979 to 1989. During his time in [[Congress]], Cheney was known for his [conservative](https://doctorparadox.net/mental-self-defense/the-conservative-mind/) views on fiscal and defense policies. He held several leadership roles, including Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee and House Minority Whip. ## Secretary of Defense In 1989, President George H.W. Bush appointed Cheney as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, a position he held until 1993. As Secretary of Defense, Cheney oversaw major military operations, such as Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. He also focused on reducing the defense budget and restructuring the military in the aftermath of the [Cold War](https://doctorparadox.net/dictionaries/cold-war-dictionary/). ## Halliburton years After leaving the Department of Defense, Cheney entered the private sector, serving as the Chairman and CEO of Halliburton, a multinational corporation providing services to the oil and gas industries, from 1995 to 2000. ## Vice Presidency In 2000, [[George W. Bush]] selected Cheney as his running mate, and the two were elected as President and Vice President, respectively. Cheney served two terms as Vice President from 2001 to 2009. During his tenure, he played a significant role in shaping the administration's policies, particularly in the areas of national security and foreign policy. Cheney was a key advocate for the invasions of Afghanistan and the [[Iraq War]] following the [[September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks]], and he was involved in the development of controversial policies on the treatment of detainees and the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. Since leaving office, Cheney has remained active in public life, occasionally commenting on current events and foreign policy issues. He has also published a memoir, "In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir," co-written with his daughter Liz Cheney, who was a U.S. Representative from Wyoming until being primaried from the extremist [right-wing](https://doctorparadox.net/tag/right-wing/) in retaliation for leading the January 6 Committee in its investigative inquiry into [[Donald Trump]]'s role in fomenting the [insurrection on January 6, 2021](https://doctorparadox.net/dagger-at-the-throat-of-america/).