Dick Cheney

Career and public offices

• After early work in state and federal government, Cheney became a leading Republican congressional figure and was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served for a decade.
• He was White House chief of staff from 1975 to 1977, a chief aide who helped manage the executive agenda as White House chief of staff.
• Under President George H. W. Bush he served as Secretary of Defense from 1989 to 1993, including during the 1990–91 Gulf War.
• Cheney left government for the private sector and was later chosen as the running mate in the 2000 United States presidential election, joining George W. Bush. The Bush–Cheney ticket won and was reelected in the 2004 United States presidential election.

As vice president, Cheney was widely regarded as an unusually powerful occupant of the office, exercising strong influence over defense, intelligence, and energy policy. He played a leading role in the administration's response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the subsequent Afghanistan campaign and the 2003 Iraq invasion. That influence provoked extensive public and academic debate about executive power, oversight, and the legal basis for counterterrorism measures.

Cheney's career spans public service and the private sector. After leaving public office he remained active in policy discussions, political endorsements, and memoirs. He also attracted attention for his health: long-standing cardiac issues led to several procedures and a heart transplant in 2012, a fact often noted in profiles of his life.

Histories of late-20th and early-21st-century U.S. politics frequently treat Cheney as a pivotal operator who combined institutional knowledge, ideological conviction, and networked influence. His legacy is contested: some praise his steadiness on national security and defense, while others criticize policies associated with expanded executive authority and contentious interrogation and surveillance practices. For further general background, see major public sources and documentary accounts.

See also: overviews of vice-presidential power, modern defense policy, and debates over executive authority in the early 2000s.