Dick Cheney served as the 46th vice president of the United States during the presidency of George W. Bush from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. Cheney, a member of the Republican Party, who previously served as the 17th U.S. secretary of defense from 1989 to 1993, was selected as Bush's running mate and took office following their electoral college victory in the 2000 presidential election over Democratic nominees Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. Four years later, in the 2004 presidential election, they defeated Democratic nominees, John Kerry and John Edwards, to win re-election. Cheney was regarded as the most powerful vice president in US history. He was also considered by many to be the chief architect of the Iraq War.

Alongside Cheney's vice presidency, the Republican Party also held their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 108th and 109th U.S. Congresses following the 2002 and 2004 elections, attained an overall federal government trifecta. During Cheney's tenure as vice president, he played a leading behind-the-scenes role in the Bush administration's response to the September 11 attacks and coordination of the war on terror. His peak approval rating in the wake of the September 11 attacks was 68 percent. Cheney was an early proponent of the Iraq War, with unsubstantiated allegations that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction and had an operational relationship with Al-Qaeda. He also pressured the intelligence community to provide intelligence consistent with the administration's rationales for invading Iraq. Cheney was often criticized for the Bush administration's policies regarding the campaign against terrorism, his support of wiretapping by the National Security Agency (NSA), and his endorsement of the U.S.'s "enhanced interrogation" torture program. In 2007, Cheney survived an assassination attempt in Afghanistan.

Near the end of his tenure, Cheney did not run for president as the Republican nominee in the 2008 presidential election and endorsed John McCain, who became the nominee and selected Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. They lost the 2008 election to the Democratic ticket of junior Illinois senator Barack Obama and his running mate, senior Delaware senator Joe Biden. As vice president in his capacity as the president 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 on January 20, 2009. Cheney ended his vice presidential tenure as a deeply unpopular figure in American politics, with an approval rating of 13 percent.

Background

First term (2001–2005)

Cheney is regarded as the most powerful vice president in the history of the United States. Cheney succeeded the Vice presidency of Al Gore.

Following the September 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. Cheney later revealed in his memoir In My Time that these "undisclosed locations" included his official vice presidential residence, his home in Wyoming, and Camp David. 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 at Number One Observatory Circle to the White House.

On the morning of June 29, 2002, Cheney served as acting president from 7:09a.m. to 9:24a.m., under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, while Bush underwent a colonoscopy.

Iraq War

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 possessed weapons of mass destruction, and making several personal visits to CIA headquarters, where he questioned mid-level agency analysts on their conclusions. Cheney continued to allege 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." Furthermore, in 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded that there was no "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al-Qaeda. By 2014, Cheney continued to misleadingly claim that Saddam "had a 10-year relationship with al Qaeda."

Following the US invasion of Iraq, Cheney remained steadfast in his support of the war, stating that it would be an "enormous success story", and made many visits to the country. He often criticized war critics, calling them "opportunists" who were peddling "cynical and pernicious falsehoods" to gain political advantage while US soldiers died in Iraq. In response, Senator John Kerry asserted, "It is hard to name a government official with less credibility on Iraq [than Cheney]."

In a March 24, 2008, extended interview conducted in Ankara, Turkey, with ABC News correspondent Martha 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?" This remark prompted widespread criticism, including from former Oklahoma Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards, a long-time personal friend of Cheney.

Second term (2005–2009)

Bush and Cheney were re-elected in the 2004 presidential election, running against John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards. During the election, the pregnancy of his daughter Mary and her sexual orientation as a lesbian became a source of public attention for Cheney in light of the same-sex marriage debate. 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.Kaufman, Marc and Allen, Mike. “Cheney splits with Bush on gay marriage ban”, Washington Post via Boston Globe (August 25, 2004). Cheney's former chief legal counsel, David Addington, 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. Until his indictment and resignation"Indictment" in United States of America vs. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby", United States Department of Justice, October 28, 2005; accessed December 10, 2007 in 2005, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. served in both roles.

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.

After his term began in 2001, Cheney was occasionally asked if he was interested in the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election. However, he always maintained that he wished to retire upon the expiration of his term and he did not run in the 2008 presidential primaries. The Republicans nominated Arizona Senator John McCain.

Disclosure of documents Cheney was a prominent member of the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG), commonly known as the Energy Task Force, composed of energy industry representatives, including several Enron executives. After the Enron scandal, the Bush administration was accused of improper political and business ties. In July 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that the US 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.

Beginning in 2003, Cheney's staff opted not to file required reports with the National Archives and Records Administration office charged with assuring that the executive branch protects classified information, nor did it allow inspection of its record keeping. Cheney refused to release the documents, citing his executive privilege to deny congressional information requests. Media outlets such as Time magazine and CBS News questioned whether Cheney had created a "fourth branch of government" that was not subject to any laws. A group of historians and open-government advocates filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to declare that Cheney's vice-presidential records are covered by the Presidential Records Act of 1978 and cannot be destroyed, taken or withheld from the public without proper review.

CIA leak scandal

On October 18, 2005, The Washington Post reported that the vice president's office was central to the investigation of the Valerie Plame CIA leak scandal, for Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was one of the figures under investigation. 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 a grand jury that his superiors, including Cheney, had authorized him to disclose classified information to the press regarding intelligence on Iraq's weapons. 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.

On March 6, 2007, Libby was convicted on four felony counts for obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements to federal investigators. In his closing arguments, independent prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that there was "a cloud over the vice president", an apparent reference to Cheney's interview with FBI agents investigating the case, which was made public in 2009. Cheney lobbied President George W. Bush vigorously and unsuccessfully to grant Libby a full presidential pardon up to the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, likening Libby to a "soldier on the battlefield". Libby was subsequently pardoned by President Donald Trump in April 2018.

Shooting of Harry Whittington

On February11, 2006, Cheney shot Harry Whittington, a then-78-year-old Texas attorney, with a 28-gauge Perazzi shotgun while participating in a quail hunt on a ranch in Riviera, Texas."Texas Cops Release Cheney Shooting Report", The Smoking Gun Both Cheney and Whittington called the event an accident.

The incident was reported to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times on February12, 2006, by ranch owner Katherine Armstrong.Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunting Accident and Incident Report Form, February 13, 2006, posted in The Smoking Gun. URL Accessed on February 14, 2006. The Bush 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-fatal heart attack and atrial fibrillation due to at least one lead shot lodged in or near his heart. He also had a collapsed lung. Cheney did not speak publicly about the incident until February15 in an interview with Fox 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.