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Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁
President of the Republic of China
In office May 20, 2000 – May 20, 2008
Vice President	Annette Lu
Preceded by	Lee Teng-hui
Succeeded by	Ma Ying-jeou
Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party
In office October 15, 2007 – January 12, 2008
Preceded by	Yu Shyi-kun
Succeeded by	Tsai Ing-wen
In office July 21, 2002 – December 11, 2004
Preceded by	Frank Hsieh
Succeeded by	Su Tseng-chang
Mayor of Taipei
In office December 25, 1994 – December 25, 1998
Preceded by	Huang Ta-chou
Succeeded by	Ma Ying-jeou
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office February 1, 1990 – December 25, 1994
Constituency	DPP at-Taipei City
Personal details
Born	(1950-10-12) October 12, 1950 (age 61) Guantian, Tainan City (Tainan County, Taiwan at that time)
Nationality	Republic of China
Political party	independent
Other political affiliations	Democratic Progressive
Spouse(s)	Wu Shu-chen
Residence	Taipei Prison
Alma mater	National Taiwan University
Occupation	Lawyer Politician
Religion	Chinese Folk Religion

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Chen Shui-bian (traditional Chinese: 陳水扁; simplified Chinese: 陈水扁; pinyin: Chén Shuǐbiǎn; Taiwanese: Tân Chúi-píⁿ; born October 12, 1950) is a former Taiwanese politician who was president from 2000 to 2008. Chen's election ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang (KMT) control of the Executive Yuan in Taiwan. A native-born Taiwanese, he is colloquially referred to as A-Bian (阿扁; Ābiǎn; Taiwanese: 阿扁仔 A-píⁿ-à).

A lawyer, Chen entered politics in 1980 during the Kaohsiung Incident as a member of the Tangwai movement and was elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981. He was jailed in 1985 for libel as the editor of the weekly pro-democracy magazine Neo-Formosa, following publication of an article critical of Elmer Feng, a college philosophy professor who was later elected a Kuomintang legislator. After being released, Chen helped found the DPP in 1986 and was elected a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1989, and Mayor of Taipei in 1994.

Chen won the 2000 presidential election on March 18 with 39% of the vote as a result of a split of factions within the Kuomintang, when James Soong ran for the presidency as an independent against the party nominee Lien Chan, becoming the only non-member of the Kuomintang to hold the office of president. Although Chen received high approval ratings during the first few weeks of his term, his popularity sharply dropped due to alleged corruption within his administration and the inability to pass legislation against the opposition KMT, who controlled the Legislative Yuan. In 2004, he won reelection by a narrow margin after surviving a shooting while campaigning the day before the election. Opponents suspected him of staging the incident for political purposes. However, the case was officially closed in 2005 with all evidence pointing to a single deceased suspect, Chen Yi-hsiung.

Convicted, along with his wife Wu Shu-chen, on two bribery charges, he is currently serving a 19-year sentence in Taipei Prison, reduced from a life sentence.^[1] Supporters have insisted that his trial was unfair and politically motivated, retribution by the Kuomintang for his years in power.

Early years[link]

Chen was born to an impoverished tenant farming family in Guantian Township of Tainan County (now part of Tainan City) on the second day of the ninth lunar month in 1950 but was not formally issued a birth certificate until February 18, 1951 because of doubts that he would survive.^[2]

Academically bright from a young age he graduated from the prestigious National Tainan First Senior High School with honors. In June 1969, he was admitted to National Taiwan University. Initially a Business Administration major, he switched to Law in his first year and became editor of the school's law review. He passed the bar exams before the completion of his junior year with the highest score becoming Taiwan's youngest lawyer. He graduated in 1974 with an LL.B. in Commercial Law.

In 1975, he married Wu Shu-chen, the daughter of a physician. The couple have a daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), who is a dentist; and a son, Chen Chih-Chung (陳致中), who, having received a law degree in Taiwan, gained a Master of Laws from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005.^[3]

From 1976 to 1989, Chen was a partner in Formosa International Marine and Commercial Law, specializing in maritime insurance. He held the firm's portfolio for Evergreen Marine Corporation. Chen has made an appearance in chapter 66 of the popular Japanese Manga Fullmetal Alchemist by Arakawa Hiromu

Entry into politics[link]

Chen became involved in politics in 1980 when he defended the participants of the Kaohsiung Incident in a military court. While his client Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信介), the leading opposition dissident, and seven co-defendants, including his future Vice President Annette Lu, were found guilty, Chen came to be known for his forceful and colorful arguments. He has stated that it was during this period that he realized the unfairness of the political system in Taiwan and became politically active as a member of the Tangwai movement.

Chen won a seat in the Taipei City Council as a Tangwai candidate in 1981 and served until 1985. In 1984, he founded the pro-opposition Civil Servant Public Policy Research Association, which published a magazine called Neo-Formosa.

On January 12, 1985, Chen was sentenced to a year in prison for libel as a result of his editorship of Neo-Formosa, following the publication of an article critical of Elmer Fung, then a college philosophy professor who was later elected a Kuomintang (KMT) legislator. While appealing the sentence, he returned to Tainan to run for county magistrate in November 1985. Three days after losing the election, his wife, Wu Shu-chen was hit twice by a truck driven by Chang Jong-tsai (張榮財) as Chen and Wu were thanking their supporters. She was left paralyzed from the waist down. His supporters believed this was part of a government campaign to intimidate him^{[citation needed]}, although another theory says it was a simple traffic accident.^[4] Chen writes in his autobiography that he harbors guilt towards his late father-in-law for this incident because of his failure to keep his promise that his involvement in politics would not harm his family and for ignoring repeated death threats from his opponents^{[citation needed]}.

Chen lost his appeal in May 1986 and began serving eight months in the Tucheng Penitentiary (土城看守所) along with Huang Tien-fu (黃天福) and Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), two other defendants in the case. While he was in prison, his wife campaigned and was elected to the Legislative Yuan. Chen also reflects how the various visits his wife made to him in prison overwhelmed him as she often fell from the wheelchair with no one to assist her. Upon his release, Chen served as her legislative assistant and practiced law.

In 1989, Chen was elected to the Legislative Yuan and served as the executive director of the Democratic Progressive Party Congress. With the support of some KMT colleagues, Chen was also elected convener of the National Defense Committee. He was instrumental in laying out and moderating many of the DPP's positions on Taiwan independence, including the four ifs. He was reelected to another three year term in 1992, but resigned in two years to become mayor.

Taipei mayoralty, 1994–1998[link]

Chen was elected as the mayor of Taipei in 1994, largely as the result of a vote split between the KMT incumbent Huang Ta-chou and the KMT-spin-off New Party (NP) candidate Chao Shaokong (趙少康). Unable to find experienced bureaucrats from his own party, Chen and his inner circle of young law school graduates retained many of the KMT administrators and delegated considerable authority.

During his term, Chen received accolades for his campaigns to drive illegal gambling and prostitution rackets out of Taipei. He levied large fines on polluters and reformed public works contracts. He closed brothels and demolished slums on municipal land in the Daan District to complete what is now Daan Forest Park. Chen renamed many of the roads in Taipei, most notably the road which runs between KMT Headquarters to the Presidential Palace from "Chieh-shou Road" (介壽路 jiè shòu lù; "Longevity for Chiang Kai-shek Road") to "Ketagalan Boulevard" (凱達格蘭大道) in an effort to acknowledge the aboriginal people of the Taipei basin. Chen also made highly publicized evictions of longtime KMT squatters on municipal land, and ordered Chiang Wei-kuo's estate demolished. Chen was also named one of Asia's rising stars, and Taipei became one of the top 50 cities in Asia according to Time Magazine's Asia version.

Despite receiving more votes both in absolute and in percentage terms than his 1994 campaign, Chen lost this position in 1998 to the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou in large part because the KMT was able to gain the support of New Party supporters. In his first autobiography, "The Son of Taiwan", Chen wrote that he was not entirely upset about losing the reelection as it gave him opportunity to find out what areas in his political career he could improve. For example, he wrote that Mainlanders generally approved of his social and economic improvements in Taipei, but they ultimately voted for Ma because of ethnic tensions. He also traveled extensively nationwide and abroad. In South Korea, he met with President Kim Dae Jung, who presented him with an award.

He also met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who promised that he would celebrate if he won the 2000 presidential elections. Due to political complications, this promise was not fulfilled until late 2003.

Presidency, 2000–2008[link]

First term[link]

In an election similar to Taipei's in 1994, Chen won the 2000 presidential election on March 18 with 39% of the vote as a result of a split of factions within the Kuomintang, when James Soong ran for the presidency as an independent against the party nominee Lien Chan.

Lacking a clear mandate and inheriting a bureaucracy largely loyal to the KMT, Chen tried to reach out to his opposition. He appointed the KMT conservative mainlander Tang Fei, a former general and the incumbent defense minister, as his first Premier. Only about half of Chen's original cabinet were DPP members, as few DPP politicians had risen above the local level. Although a supporter of Taiwan independence, Chen moderated his stance during his campaign and pledged the Four Noes and One Without in his inaugural address—that as long as the People's Republic of China has no intention to use military force against Taiwan, he would not declare independence nor change the national symbols of the Republic of China. He also promised to be, "President of all the people" and resigned his chairmanship from the DPP. His approval rating reached nearly 80%.

Chen's administration ran into many problems, and its policies were constantly blocked by the Pan-Blue Coalition-controlled legislature. The stock market lost over half its value within a year and unemployment reached 4.5% in part because of the Asian stock market crash. While Chen's detractors blamed Chen's poor leadership for the economic crisis, the administration blamed the legislature for blocking its relief efforts.

More troublesome for Chen was the political showdown over the construction of the Number Four Nuclear Power Facility. This multibillion dollar project in Kungliao (貢寮) was already one-third completed and favored by the pro-business KMT as a means of avoiding an energy shortage. However, the environmentalist DPP strongly objected to the expansion of nuclear power. Premier Tang had threatened to resign if the project were canceled, and Chen accepted his resignation on October 3, 2000, only four and a half months after both had taken office. Chen appointed his political ally Chang Chun-hsiung as Tang's replacement. On October 27, Chang announced that the government would halt construction. But less than an hour before, President Chen had met with Lien Chan to reconcile differences^{[citation needed]}. Lien had asked Chen to leave the matter for the Legislative Yuan to decide and Chen seemed receptive to the suggestion. When Chang's announcement came out, Lien was furious and the KMT began an effort to recall the President. The Council of Grand Justices intervened and declared that it was the legislature and not the cabinet that had the power to decide on the issue. This was widely seen as the end of Chen's attempts to face the pan-blue groups head on. By the end of his first year in office, Chen's approval ratings had dropped to 25%.^{[citation needed]}

During summer of 2001, Chen flew to Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City, where he met with members of the U.S. Congress. The mayor of Houston presented Chen with a key to the city and gave him cowboy clothing. His trip to New York was a first for a head of state from Taiwan as there was unwritten agreement between the US and China that no head of state from Taiwan would be permitted to visit either New York or Washington, D.C.

After his first year in office, Chen seemed to move away from sending conciliatory gestures. In the summer of 2002, Chen again became the chairman of the DPP. During his tenure, images of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo disappeared from public buildings. The word "TAIWAN" is now printed on new ROC passports. Also continuing a trend from the previous administration, the Education Ministry revised the school curriculum to be more Taiwan-centered. Government websites have also tended to promote the notion that China is synonymous with the PRC instead of the ROC as was mandated by the KMT. The "Free China Review" was renamed the Taiwan Review and Who's Who in the ROC was renamed Who's Who in Taiwan. In January 2003, a new Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation was formed but the Cabinet-level Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission was not abolished. Though Chen has proposed talks with the PRC, relations remain deadlocked as Chen refused to pledge to the One-China policy, as required by the PRC for talks to begin. Such a pledge seemed unlikely for Chen since there remained strong opposition within his own party. Despite these symbolic gestures, Chen moved away from "no haste, be patient" policy and opened the three mini links.^{[citation needed]}

Re-election campaign[link]

In late 2003, he signed a controversial referendum bill, which he had supported but was heavily watered down by the Pan-Blue majority legislature. One concession that the legislature made was to include a provision for an emergency defensive referendum and during the legislative debates it was widely believed that this clause would only be invoked if Taiwan was under imminent threat of attack from China as has been so often threatened. Within a day of the passage of the referendum bill, Chen stated his intention to invoke this provision, citing PRC's over 450 missiles aimed directly at the Taiwanese. Pan-Blue believed that his bill was only intended to benefit Chen in the coming election, as whether PRC removes the missiles would not be pressured or decided by referendum result.

Images of Chiang Kai-shek were removed from public buildings. Chen's portrait was hung at a location in the Presidential Office that previously displayed a portrait of Chiang.

In October 2003, Chen flew to New York City for a second time. At the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, he was presented with the Human Rights Award by the International League of Human Rights. In the subsequent leg of the trip to Panama, he met with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and shook hands with him. This high profile trip raised Chen's opinion polls ahead of his opponent Lien Chan for the first time at 35%, according to Agence France Presse.

His use of the referendum in combination with his talk of a new constitution lead many among his reunification critics to believe that he would attempt to achieve Taiwan independence in his second term by invoking a referendum to create a new constitution that would formally separate Taiwan from any interpretation of China. This caused the government of the United States to follow the lead of Chen's political critics and issue a rare rebuke of Chen's actions.

Chen was reportedly shot in the stomach while campaigning in the city of Tainan on Friday, March 19, 2004, the day before polls opened on Saturday. According to Chen, the bullet left a flesh wound that was 11 cm long and 2 cm deep and was found in his clothes. He left the hospital on the same day with 14 stitches. His Vice President Annette Lu was also reportedly shot in the leg in the same incident. After the election, video from the hospital Chen and Lu were taken to showed Chen walking into the hospital after the Presidential Office Secretary General said that he had been taken in. The opposition made many allegations into the conduct of the security and hospital procedures requiring Chen and Lu to change parts of their stories in order for it to make sense. While many theories were put forth, the opposition had no access to the physical evidence so the Criminal Investigation Bureau refuted them.

The following day, Chen narrowly won the election with a margin of less than 30,000 votes out of 12.9 million votes counted. Both of his referendum proposals were rejected due to insufficient turnout, in part by the Pan-Blue boycott. Those that did vote for the referendum overwhelmingly favored it. Due to the activation of the so-called National Security Mechanism which prevented military officers from voting, and island-wide reports of election fraud, Pan-Blue candidate Lien Chan refused to concede and sued both for a recount and for a nullification of the outcome while supporters held a week-long protest led by the Pan-Blues front of the presidential office in Taipei. He also claimed that the shooting was staged by Chen to win sympathy votes. Chen claimed that the shooting could not have been staged, because it would be too dangerous to have himself shot in a moving jeep and also challenged Lien and vice-presidential candidate James Soong to try their luck with a shooter in a stationary jeep. This challenge was based on the assumption that his belly wound was inflicted while he was in the moving jeep and not before or afterwards.

The opposition also raised the fact that Chen had faked a food poisoning incident while running for Tainan County Commissioner in 1985. Chen arrived at a debate on a stretcher accusing the KMT of poisoning his tea earlier. Later that night after the debate, Chen was seen as having no ill-effects from the apparent incident which prompted the opposing candidate to accuse him of staging the incident to garner sympathy.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau hired renowned forensic scientist Henry Lee (forensic scientist) to examine the physical evidence. Dr. Henry Lee was famous for defending O.J. Simpson in the murder of his wife and lover, and helped acquit Simpson based on the LAPD's lack of professionalism and possibility of planted evidence at the murder site. Dr. Henry Lee and his team of Americans had previously established the belly wound was in fact a gunshot wound, and then claimed the windshield hole had been struck from the outside based on the lack of windshield powder outside the jeep. Despite widespread speculation that the casings were planted on the street, Lee expressed no concern regarding the origin of the evidence even though the casings had been found some 3½ hours after the incident occurred and street cleaning had cleaned up the firecracker debris. Dr. Lee was also not critical of the local police and National Security Bureau's inability to secure the scene of the incident afterwards until the casings were found.

Several months later, Dr. Lee released a report on the evidence and suggested to the Criminal Investigation Bureau to trace the suspect according to the casings and bullets. In March 2005, Chen Yi-hsiung, a local Tainan resident, was the main suspect for the shooting but allegedly committed suicide 8 days after the election. The Criminal Investigation Bureau closed the case in August 2005 implicating him as the shooter. But in 2006, James Chun-i Lee, a professor at National Taiwan University's Graduate Institute of Forensic Medicine, led an investigation and concluded that Chen Yi-hsiung was most likely murdered, because his body, wrapped in a fishing net, was dumped into the water only after he died. Another report reached by the Criminal Investigation Bureau task force concludes that the two bullets could not have come from the same pistol because a 9.1 mm bullet would not fit into a 9 mm pistol that the police said was used by the suspect.^[5] The KMT continues to claim that it was all engineered by Chen to this day.

Throughout the election, Chen planned to hold a referendum in 2006 on a new constitution to be enacted upon the accession of the 12th-term president in May 2008. After the election, he sought to reassure critics and moderate supporters that the new constitution would not address the issue of sovereignty, and that the current constitution was in need of comprehensive reform after more than a decade of patchwork revision.

There have been two interpretations of Chen's actions during the election in terms of independence politics. The first is that he is ideologically committed to advancing Taiwan independence and that his actions are intended to systematically remove the constraints which prevent this from occurring. Seen in this light, his actions are intended to provoke a crisis in which the PRC must either start a war or accept independence, with the expectation that the PRC would back down. Ironically, this interpretation of his actions is shared both among his most fervent supporters (who think it is a good thing) and his most bitter opponents (who think that it is a bad thing). It is largely to counter this possibility that the PRC has issued statements that it will definitely go to war if certain red lines are crossed. However, they in reality carry little meaning, as Beijing has made such statements warning against electing former President Lee and Chen in the 1996 and 2000 elections, which both failed to materialize. Some people regard these statements now as reverse psychology, as Lee and Chen may help to weaken ROC and advance the unification process.

The second interpretation is that Chen's actions were primarily intended to placate his core supporters rather than provoke a crisis. People who subscribe to this interpretation point out that Chen's early efforts to moderate his pro-independence position did not create a positive reaction either from the PRC or from his anti-independence opponents on Taiwan. He also alienated some pro-independence supporters. Therefore Chen was forced to take a more assertive approach both as a negotiation tactic with the PRC and to keep support from his core supporters. This strategy is consistent with the oft-stated position that Taiwan would only seek independence as a preemptive measure in the face of evidence of PRC military aggression. However, even this interpretation provokes unease among many people, especially among policy makers in the PRC and the United States. The first problem is that this interpretation makes Chen seem like an old-style Taiwan politician that seems to say whatever pleases people. The second, more serious problem is the fear that through misunderstanding and misinterpretation, Chen may have provoked a war without intending to do so, as the PRC has repeatedly claimed that any progress towards independence would provoke war.

Second term[link]

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On May 20, 2004, Chen was sworn in for his second term as President amid continued mass protests by the pan-blue alliance over the validity of his re-election. Having heard protests from pro-independence figures in Taiwan, he did not explicitly re-state the Four Noes and One Without but did state that he reaffirmed the commitments made in his first inaugural. He defended his proposals to change the constitution, but asked for constitutional reform to be undertaken through existing procedures instead of calling for a referendum for an entirely new constitution which was proposed by former president Lee Teng-hui. This would require approval by a three-fourths majority of the National Assembly which could authorize a referendum. This has two major implications. First, by going through existing constitutional amendment procedures, this has the symbolic effect of maintaining continuity with the existing constitution which was originally written in China. Second, this has the practical effect of requiring the Chen administration to get the consent of the opposition Pan-Blue coalition to pass any amendments, and while the opposition is willing to consider constitutional reforms that would increase governmental efficiency, they are unlikely to support anything that would imply a de jure declaration of independence.

However, even these seemingly conciliatory gestures did not quell unease by his critics at his election. Some have pointed out that he qualified his statements on the constitution with the statement that this is a personal suggestion. Furthermore, it is widely believed in Taiwan that some of these gestures were essentially forced on him again by pressure from the United States and the PRC. The PRC has stated many times that it cares little about what Chen says, but will watch closely in the next few months to see what he does, a standard sentence that Communist China continues to quote.

Chen Shui-bian addressed his opening speech at "2006 Taiwan Sports Elite Awards"

Three days before Chen's inauguration, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the PRC issued what has become known as the May 17 Declaration. In that declaration, China accused Chen of continuing with a creep toward independence, having merely paid lip service to his commitments in his first term of office, and reiterated that there would be consequences if Chen did not halt policies toward Taiwan independence, but at the same time offered major concessions if Chen would accept the One China Principle.

In late 2004, in effort to maintain the balance of power in the region, Chen began eagerly pushing for an US$18 billion arms purchase from the United States, but the Pan-Blue Coalition repeatedly blocked the deal in the legislature. Criticism has been made of this, citing contradictory arguments used, such as that the weapons were not what Taiwan needed, or that the weapons were a good idea but too expensive. By late 2006, the KMT had signalled it would support some of the arms sale being approved, but failed to pass a revised arms bill by the end of the legislative session in early 2007, despite promises by then KMT Chairman, Ma Ying-jeou, to do that.

Chen announced on December 5 that state-owned or private enterprises and foreign offices bearing the name "China", such as China Airlines, the China Steel Corporation, and Chinese Petroleum Corporation, would be renamed to bear the name "Taiwan." On December 14, 2004, following the failure of the Pan-Green coalition to gain a majority of seats in the ROC legislative election, 2004 (as many had expected to occur), Chen resigned as chairman of the DPP. This dashed hopes that the stalemate that plagued Chen's first term would end.

At the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Chen (far left), whom the Holy See recognized as the head of state of China, was seated in the front row (in French alphabetical order) beside the first lady and president of Brazil.

In 2005 Chen became the first ROC president to visit Europe, when he attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in the Vatican City (the Holy See continues to maintain diplomatic relations with the ROC). In order to shore up diplomatic support, it is common for the ROC president to visit the ROC's remaining diplomatic allies; however past presidents had been prevented from visiting the Vatican because such a visit would require passage through Italy, which maintains relations with the PRC. Under agreement with the Vatican, Italy permitted all guests to the funeral passage without hindrance and Chen was received at Rome's airport in his capacity as a foreign head of state. In this religious ceremony where U.S. President George W. Bush greeted Iranian President Khatami, Chen did not seem to attempt making a high profile of himself by reaching out to other heads of states such as Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Chen was named one of the Time 100 for 2005.^[6]

Later in the year, Chen traveled to Miami in stopover for a forum in the Caribbean. He met with members of the U.S. Congress through video conference and was invited to visit Washington, D.C. On his way back, he was originally scheduled to fly through San Francisco. However, he changed course and stopped-over at the United Arab Emirates. The head of state greeted him and hosted a formal state dinner, infuriating the Chinese officials. Chen made his way back after making a stopover at Jakarta. His request for a pitstop at Singapore was denied; authorities cited weather problems.

On May 3, 2006, Chen canceled plans to pass through the United States on his way to Latin America. He was hoping to stop by either San Francisco or New York City to refuel and stay overnight, but the US refused his request instead limiting him to a brief refuelling stopover in Anchorage, Alaska where Chen would not be allowed to step off the plane. Chen and Taiwan saw this as a snub and led to Chen's cancellation. The trip to Latin America will continue, however, without a US stopover. The US State Department claimed that the Alaska stopover offer was consistent with its previous accommodations. However, former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui was granted a visit to Cornell University eleven years ago. More recently, in addition, Taiwan's leaders have in general been granted permission to stopover in the United States for brief periods before continuing on to other countries. This recent American stance is interpreted by Taiwan to be an expression of the increasing irritation the United States feels towards Taiwan and Chen's seemingly pro-independence gestures. Chen attended the inauguration of Óscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica, one of the few countries that recognized the Republic of China at that time. Laura Bush was also present to represent U.S. president George W. Bush. Chen seized the opportunity, approached her and shook her hands, while Chen's aide produced a camera immediately for an impromptu photo-op. Chen's supporters saw this act as a step forward in Taiwan's struggle for diplomatic recognition, while his detractors claimed that it was a grave breach of international etiquette and put Taiwan to shame.

On May 12, 2007, Premier Su Tseng-Chang resigned his position, and Chen soon appointed Chang Chun-hsiung to fill the vacant premiership. During Chen's tenure, beginning in 2000, the country has seen six different premiers in the past seven years. During the same period of time, from 2000 onward, the Democratic Progressive Party has also seen seven different chairmen.

Chen's tenure as President expired on May 20, 2008, yielding to successor Ma Ying-Jeou. From his election to his first term to his last days as President, Chen's approval ratings fell from 79% to just 21%.^[7]

Family scandals[link]

In May 2006, his approval rating, as determined by the TSU, fell to 5.8%,^[8] after a series of scandals centered on his wife and son-in-law. Additional sources showed his approval rating at around 20%.^[8] Support from his own party has also dropped with a few members calling for his dismissal as he had a bad influence on his party and has already caused them to lose the Republic of China presidential election, 2008^{[citation needed]}.

On May 24, 2006, his son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming, was taken into custody by the Taipei police on charges of insider trading and embezzlement by the opposition party. This was a setback for the Chen Shui-bian administration. In related charges, there were accusations from the opposition party that Chen Shui-bian's wife was involved in trading stocks and obtaining Pacific Sogo Department Store's gift certificates illegally in exchange for settling the disputed ownership.^{[citation needed]}

On June 1, 2006, Chen declared that he was handing control of governmental matters to Premier Su Tseng-chang and announced he would not be involved in campaigning. He also stated that he was retaining authority on matters that the Constitution required him to retain authority over, presumably foreign affairs and defense policy, as well as relations with the PRC.^[9]

On July 20, 2006, Opposition politicians accused that Chen used a total of NT$10.2 million (US$310,000) worth of "fake invoices" to claim expenses after the National Audit Office found irregularities in Presidential Office accounts. The Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office is currently investigating over this accusation.^[10]

In a press release issued by the Presidential Office responded that the president assured the investigators that he did not pocket a single cent of the fund. During questioning at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of August 7, 2006, the president detailed to the prosecutor how he spent the fund and presented relevant receipts and bank remittance statements.^[11]

President Chen also lost a libel case brought on successfully by PFP Chairman James Soong. Soong sued the President after Chen repeatedly accused him of secretly meeting the director of the People's Republic of China's Taiwan Affairs Office. Soong successfully sued Chen for NT$3 million.^[12]

On November 3, 2006, Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen and three other high ranking officials of the Presidential Office were indicted of corruption of NT$14.8 million (US$450,000) of government funds using faked documents. Due to the protection from the Constitution against prosecution of the sitting president, Chen could not be prosecuted until he left office, and he was not indicted, but was alleged to be an accomplice on his wife's indictment.^[13]

The prosecutor of the case indicated that once Chen left office, his office would start the procedures to press charges against Chen. His wife Wu became the only sitting First Lady of the Republic of China to face criminal charges since the foundation of the Republic in 1911.^{[citation needed]}

The indictment filed by prosecutors states that the indicted persons obtained government funds earmarked for secret foreign affairs, yet of six supposed secret diplomatic missions, there was sufficient evidence presented for only two. Of the remaining four, it was concluded that one did not exist, and in the case of the other three, the invoices presented were not found to be related to the secret missions.^{[citation needed]}

The Pan-Blue coalition, after receiving the news, demanded to call for another recall motion unless Chen resigned immediately. Another small party that backed Chen previously, Taiwan Solidarity Union, said Friday they would likely to support the upcoming recall measure. If the recall passed, it would be up to the voters to decide Chen's fate in an island-wide referendum.

Leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party met together to discuss the unfavorable charges. The meeting ended when party leaders demanded Chen to explain the accusation within three days. There has long been crumbling inside the DPP that Chen has become their liability and should recall him before the presidential election. If Chen resigned, he would be the first Taiwanese president to step down and the vice-president, Annette Lu, would likely take power.

After the prosecutor announced the indictment news, the campaign leader Shih proclaimed that the indictment was the historical high point in Taiwan and the month long campaign was a success.^{[citation needed]}

In a press conference November 5, 2006, Chen rebutted the charges against his wife and members of his Presidential office. He said that Taiwan government offices advised him to prepare the receipts in such a fashion, and that after six years of doing so, it is strange that they would never mention an irregularity if it was not the right way to do it. He promised that all of the money actually went to diplomatic missions and did not go into any private pockets. Furthermore, he mentioned that when he took office, he thought his salary was so excessive that he cut his own salary in half, and that reduction is more than the amount he is accused of embezzling, so there is no need for him to take that money. In addition, he said that if the charges against his wife were proven in a court of law just as they were charged, then he would at that time step down as President of the Republic of China.^{[citation needed]}

In defense of Chen, journalist Therese Shaheen of The Wall Street Journal Asia pointed out that controversy surrounding Chen can be in part attributed to the radical reforms he has tried to implement since stepping into power.^[14]

Recall motion[link]

In mid-June 2007, opposition pan-blue camp lawmakers initiated a recall motion that would allow the voters to remove Chen from power via a public referendum. On June 20, President Chen addressed the nation by television, denying any involvement of the first family or himself (other than his son-in-law) in any of the alleged scandals, or "directly" accepting the department's gift certificates.^[15] The motion was not passed. Of 221 lawmakers in the Legislature, all 119 pan-blue and independent legislators voted in favor of the measure, 29 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the motion. Pan-green legislators from the president's own party, the DPP, refused to receive ballots. Pan-Green legislators from the allied TSU cast abstaining ballots. No legislator voted against the recall motion.

After Wu was indicted, the Pan-Blue parties renewed calls to recall Chen, and TSU at first indicated that it would support the recall this time, but then said it would only support the new recall motion if "concrete evidence concerning corruption is presented."^[16]

The "Besiege the Presidential Office" demonstration on October 10, 2006

On September 1, 2006, political activist Shih Ming-te launched an "anti-corruption campaign". The movement accused Chen of corruption and asked for his resignation. By September 7, more than one million signatures were collected, each with a donation of NT$100 (approximately US$3.00).^[17] On September 9, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Taiwan, wearing red. According to organisers, around 200,000 to 300,000 people joined the protest outside the presidential offices, but the police used aerial photography crowd counting techniques to put the number at about 90,000.^[18] Shih Ming-teh confirmed that most of his supporters are from the Pan-Blue Coalition in a September interview in The New York Times.

2008 elections[link]

In the Republic of China legislative election in 2008, Chen's party suffered a clear defeat, and Chen subsequently resigned as party chairman. With Chen's resignation and Frank Hsieh's ascension as the party's new chairman, the DPP has changed chairmen seven times since Chen took office in 2000.

In the presidential election on March 22, 2008, Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou defeated DPP candidate Frank Hsieh.

Post-presidency[link]

Chen stepped down on May 20, 2008, the same day that Ma Ying-jeou took office as the new President of the Republic of China^[19] No longer bearing the title of President, Chen left the Presidential Office Building, his presidential immunity was removed. He was placed under restrictions, such as confinement to Taiwan, by prosecutors as a result of allegations of corruption and abuse of authority, both of which he was later charged guilty of. One fraud case involved the handling of a special presidential fund used to pursue Taiwan's foreign diplomacy.

President Ma Ying-jeou declassified government documents which aided the investigation into Chen's usage of special government funds. Chen's lawyers responded by suing Ma, on August 6, 2008, alleging Ma's declassification of the documents that were initially classified by Chen to be "politically motivated." The documents consisted mainly of receipts and other records of special expenses, which according to Ma's chief aide assured pose no danger to the country's interests once declassified.^[20]

On September 11, 2009, Chen received a life sentence and was fined NT$200 million^[21] (US$6.13 million) for embezzlement, bribery and money laundering involving a total of US$15 million (NT$490 million) in funds while in office from 2000 to 2008.^[22] Supporters of Chen contended that the prosecution was politically motivated.^[23][24] Chen is the first ROC president to receive a prison sentence.^[25]

On June 8, 2010, the Taipei District Court found Chen not guilty of embezzling diplomatic funds.^[26][27] On June 11, 2010, the High Court decided to reduce the former president Chen's life sentence to 20 years.^[28][29] Through several court cases and pleads for bail, the High Court rejected his request for bail and continued to detain him in jail for another 5 months.^{[30][31][32][33]} The detention led Chen's supporters to protest that the detention of Chen for more than 600 days without proving him guilty^{[clarification needed]} was illegal, inhumane and unjust, and a result of political revenge by the part of the Kuomintang (KMT).^[34][35] The Yellow Ribbon Movement took to demonstration over alleged exploitation of justice and political revenge.^[36]

Meanwhile, on August 17, 2010, both the Taipei District Court and the High Court found ex-deputy military minister, Cheng-Hen Ke (柯承亨), not guilty of revealing non-military secrets to former president Chen Shui-Bian.^[37]

The parliament with a KMT and pan-blue coalition majority passed an amendment to the Act Governing Preferential Treatment for Retired Presidents and Vice Presidents (卸任總統副總統禮遇條例) on August 19, 2010.^[38] Introduced by the KMT, the amendment stipulated that former presidents and vice presidents will be stripped of courtesy treatment, including their monthly allowance and annual expenses, if convicted by a court of grave offense(s), such as sedition and graft. The number of bodyguards assigned to former presidents and vice presidents who are convicted of corruption in a first trial will also be reduced. Former president Chen's son stated the act was created to target the now imprisoned former president. (陳水扁條款).^[39][40][41]

Political positions[link]

Chen's and the Democratic Progressive Party position on Taiwan's political status is that Taiwan is already an independent, sovereign nation named the Republic of China. This has the implication that a declaration of independence is unnecessary as Taiwan is already independent. This view point, however, is subject to change in each election campaign. At the same time, it also has the implication that the pledge by Chen to preserve the status quo or not change Taiwan's sovereign status would not preclude a declaration of independence but would preclude acceptance of the one China policy.

Some said that Chen's position on this issue was intended and to some degree succeeded in placating his pro-independence supporters without crossing any red lines that could trigger war with the PRC. His supporters saw these positions as creative and indicative of a willingness to compromise. However, it was also common among his opponents in Taiwan, as well as among policy makers in China and the pro-PRC United States politicians to see his statements in their own much darker terms. Many among his critics (especially those from the Pan-Blue coalition) believed that his positions and actions showed that his seemingly conciliatory statements were merely a smokescreen to advance a hidden agenda of advancing de facto Taiwan independence.^{[citation needed]} These suspicions appeared to arise from the actions of his KMT predecessor Lee Teng-hui who now readily admits to secretly^{[citation needed]} trying to advance de facto Taiwan independence during his presidential terms.

President Chen admitted that he leans towards independence but his main position is opposition to adopting the One China principle since it prevents Taiwanese people from being able to decide upon their own future.

In an interview in July 2005, Chen explicitly repudiated the position of Lee Teng-Hui that Taiwan / Republic of China and China / People's Republic of China are two different countries. He said, "The Republic of China on Taiwan and the People's Republic of China on the mainland are two separate countries with divided rule and do not exercise sovereignty over each other," he said. "Under the principle of popular sovereignty and self determination, we consider that the question of whether Taiwan should be united with China should be the decision of the 23 million people of Taiwan."^[42]

On February 28, 2006, Chen announced the National Unification Council, set up in 1990, and its guidelines, which had committed Taiwan to unification if China adopts democracy, would "cease to function". He took care to use the phrase "ceased to exist" rather than abolish when he made the announcement because he had promised in 2000 that he would not abolish the council or its guidelines. Newspapers on both sides of the Taiwan strait criticized Chen severely for scrapping the unification council although others reported that Chen may have acted in reaction towards China's Anti Secession Law.^{[citation needed]}

On March 2, 2006 in a stern announcement, Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman of the US state department, said that the US expected the Taiwan authorities to publicly correct the record that there is no distinction between "abolish" and "ceasing activity" and unambiguously affirm that the February 27 announcement did not abolish the National Unification Council and did not change the status quo and that the assurances remain in effect.^[43]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Republic of China portal

• Politics of the Republic of China
• Four Wants and One Without
• Four-Stage Theory of the Republic of China

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (December 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chen Shui-bian

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chen Shui-bian

• Unofficial advocacy website
• Full text of Chen's 2004 Inaugural Speech
• Official Democratic Progressive Party web site in Chinese
• America and Taiwan, 1943–2004
• Chinataiwan.org, Key events in career
• Former President of Republic of China (Taiwan) Chen Shui Bian taking oath of office

v t e Candidates in the 2000 Republic of China presidential election Li Ao (Elmer Fung) Lien Chan (Vincent Siew) Hsu Hsin-liang (Josephine Chu) Chen Shui-bian (Annette Lu) James Soong (Chang Chau-hsiung) Names in brackets indicate accompanying candidate for the Vice Presidency. Winners shown in bold.

v t e Presidents of the Republic of China Provisional Government (1912–1913) Sun Yat-sen Yuan Shikai Beiyang Government (1913–1928) Yuan Shikai Li Yuanhong Feng Guozhang Xu Shichang Zhou Ziqi Li Yuanhong Gao Lingwei Cao Kun Huang Fu Hu Weide Yan Huiqing Du Xigui Gu Weijun Nationalist Government (1928–1948) Chiang Kai-shek Lin Sen Chiang Kai-shek Constitutional Government (since 1948) Chiang Kai-shek Li Zongren Chiang Kai-shek Yen Chia-kan Chiang Ching-kuo Lee Teng-hui Chen Shui-bian Ma Ying-jeou Italics indicates acting President

Dick Cheney
46th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Al Gore
Succeeded by	Joe Biden
17th United States Secretary of Defense
In office March 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
President	George H. W. Bush
Deputy	Donald J. Atwood, Jr.
Preceded by	Frank Carlucci
Succeeded by	Les Aspin
15th House Minority Whip
In office January 3, 1989 – March 20, 1989
Leader	Robert H. Michel
Preceded by	Trent Lott
Succeeded by	Newt Gingrich
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming's At-large district
In office January 3, 1979 – March 20, 1989
Preceded by	Teno Roncalio
Succeeded by	Craig L. Thomas
7th White House Chief of Staff
In office November 21, 1975 – January 20, 1977
President	Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Donald Rumsfeld
Succeeded by	Hamilton Jordan
Personal details
Born	Richard Bruce Cheney (1941-01-30) January 30, 1941 (age 71) Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lynne Cheney (m. 1964–present)
Children	Elizabeth Cheney Mary Cheney
Residence	McLean, Virginia Jackson, Wyoming
Alma mater	Yale University University of Wyoming (BA, MA) University of Wisconsin-Madison
Profession	Politician Businessman
Religion	Methodist
Signature

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney^[1] (born January 30, 1941) served as the 46th Vice President of the United States (2001–2009), under George W. Bush.

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney was primarily raised in Sumner, Nebraska, and Casper, Wyoming.^[2] He began his political career as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger, eventually working his way into the White House during the Nixon and Ford administrations, where he served the latter as White House Chief of Staff. In 1978, Cheney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming; he was reelected five times, eventually becoming House Minority Whip. Cheney was selected to be the Secretary of Defense during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, holding the position for the majority of Bush's term. During this time, Cheney oversaw the 1991 Operation Desert Storm, among other actions.

Out of office during the Clinton presidency, Cheney was chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000.

Early life and education[link]

Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the son of Marjorie Lorraine (née Dickey) and Richard Herbert Cheney. He is of predominantly English, as well as Welsh, Irish, and French Huguenot, ancestry; Cheney's 8th great-grandfather, William Cheney, immigrated from England to Massachusetts in the 17th century.^[3][4][5] Although not a direct descendant, he is collaterally related to Benjamin Pierce Cheney (1815–1895), the early American expressman. Cheney is a very distant cousin of both Harry S. Truman and Barack Obama; the three share a common ancestor in Mareen Duvall, a Huguenot who fled from France to England in the 17th century and later settled in Maryland.^[6] His father was a soil conservation agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and his mother was a softball star in the 1930s;^[7] Cheney was one of three children.

He attended Calvert Elementary School^[8][9] before his family moved to Casper, Wyoming,^[10] where he attended Natrona County High School.

He attended Yale University, but by his own account had problems adjusting to the college, and flunked out twice.^[11] Among the influential teachers from his days in New Haven was Professor H. Bradford Westerfield, whom Cheney repeatedly credited with having helped to shape his approach to foreign policy.^[12] He later attended the University of Wyoming, where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in political science. He subsequently started, but did not finish, doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.^[13]

In November 1962, at the age of 21, Cheney was convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI). He was arrested for DWI again the following year.^[14] Cheney said that the arrests made him "think about where I was and where I was headed. I was headed down a bad road if I continued on that course."^[15]

In 1964, he married Lynne Vincent, his high school sweetheart, whom he had met at age 14.

When Cheney became eligible for the draft, during the Vietnam War, he applied for and received five draft deferments.^[16][17] In 1989, The Washington Post writer George C. Wilson interviewed Cheney as the next Secretary of Defense; when asked about his deferments, Cheney reportedly said, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service."^[18] Cheney testified during his confirmation hearings in 1989 that he received deferments to finish a college career that lasted six years rather than four, owing to sub-par academic performance and the need to work to pay for his education. Initially, he was not called up because the Selective Service System was only taking older men. When he became eligible for the draft, he applied for four deferments in sequence. He applied for his fifth exemption on January 19, 1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant. He was granted 3-A status, the "hardship" exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents. In January 1967, Cheney turned 26 and was no longer eligible for the draft.^[19]

Early White House appointments[link]

White House Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld (left) and his assistant Cheney (right) meet with President Gerald Ford at the White House, April 1975

Cheney's political career began in 1969, as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger during the Richard Nixon Administration. He then joined the staff of Donald Rumsfeld, who was then Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity from 1969–70.^[14] He held several positions in the years that followed: White House Staff Assistant in 1971, Assistant Director of the Cost of Living Council from 1971–73, and Deputy Assistant to the president from 1974–1975. As deputy assistant, Cheney suggested several options in a memo to Rumsfeld, including use of the US Justice Department, that the Ford administration could use to limit damage from an article, published by The New York Times, in which investigative reporter Seymour Hersh reported that Navy submarines had tapped into Soviet undersea communications as part of a highly classified program, Operation Ivy Bells.^[20][21]

Cheney was Assistant to the President under Gerald Ford. When Rumsfeld was named Secretary of Defense, Cheney became White House Chief of Staff, succeeding Rumsfeld.^[14] He later was campaign manager for Ford's 1976 presidential campaign.^[22]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

In 1978, Cheney was elected to represent Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives and succeed retiring Congressman Teno Roncalio, having defeated his Democratic opponent, Bill Bailey. Cheney was re-elected five times, serving until 1989.

Tenure[link]

Leadership

In 1987, he was elected Chairman of the House Republican Conference. The following year, he was elected House Minority Whip.^[23][23] He served for two and a half months before he was appointed Secretary of Defense instead of former U.S. Senator John G. Tower, whose nomination had been rejected by the U.S. Senate in March 1989.^[24]

Votes

Cheney meets with President Ronald Reagan, 1983

He voted against the creation of the U.S. Department of Education, citing his concern over budget deficits and expansion of the federal government, and claiming that the Department was an encroachment on states' rights.^[25] He voted against funding Head Start, but reversed his position in 2000.^[26]

Cheney supported Bob Michel’s (R-IL) bid to become Republican Minority Leader.^[27] In April 1980, Cheney endorsed Governor Ronald Reagan for President, becoming one of Reagan's earliest supporters.^[28]

In 1986, after President Ronald Reagan vetoed a bill to impose economic sanctions on South Africa for its policy of apartheid, Cheney was one of 83 Representatives to vote against overriding Reagan's veto.^[29] In later years, he articulated his opposition to unilateral sanctions against many different countries, stating "they almost never work"^[30] and that in that case they might have ended up hurting the people instead.^[31]

In 1986, Cheney, along with 145 Republicans and 31 Democrats, voted against a non-binding Congressional resolution calling on the South African government to release Nelson Mandela from prison, after the Democrats defeated proposed amendments that would have required Mandela to renounce violence sponsored by the African National Congress (ANC) and requiring it to oust the communist faction from its leadership; the resolution was defeated. Appearing on CNN, Cheney addressed criticism for this, saying he opposed the resolution because the ANC "at the time was viewed as a terrorist organization and had a number of interests that were fundamentally inimical to the United States."^[32]

The federal building in Casper, a regional center of the fossil fuel industry, is named the Dick Cheney Federal Building.^[33]

Committee assignments[link]

Originally declining, U.S. Congressman Barber Conable persuaded Cheney to join the moderate Republican Wednesday Group in order to move up the leadership ranks. He was elected Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee from 1981 to 1987. Cheney was the Ranking Member of the Select Committee to investigate the Iran-Contra Affair.^[14][34][35] He promoted Wyoming's petroleum and coal businesses as well,^[36]

Secretary of Defense[link]

Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney

Secretary Cheney with President Bush, 1991

Secretary of Defense Cheney delivering a speech before the launch of destroyer USS Arleigh Burke

President George H. W. Bush nominated Cheney for the office of Secretary of Defense immediately after the U.S. Senate failed to confirm John Tower for that position.^[37] The senate confirmed Cheney by a vote of 92 to 0^[37] and he served in that office from March 1989 to January 1993. He directed the United States invasion of Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. In 1991 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bush.^[23]

Early tenure[link]

Cheney worked closely with Pete Williams, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, from the beginning of his tenure. He focused primarily on external matters, and left most internal Pentagon management to Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald J. Atwood, Jr.^[24]

Budgetary practices[link]

Cheney's most immediate issue as Secretary of Defense was the Department of Defense budget. Cheney deemed it appropriate to cut the budget and downsize the military, following President Ronald Reagan's peacetime defense buildup at the height of the Cold War.^[38] As part of the fiscal year 1990 budget, Cheney assessed the requests from each of the branches of the armed services for such expensive programs as the B-2 stealth bomber, the V-22 Osprey tilt-wing helicopter, the Aegis destroyer and the MX missile, totaling approximately $4.5 billion in light of changed world politics.^[24] Cheney opposed the V-22 program, which Congress had already appropriated funds for, and initially refused to issue contracts for it before relenting.^[39] When the 1990 Budget came before Congress in the summer of 1989, it settled on a figure between the Administration's request and the House Armed Services Committee's recommendation.^[24] In subsequent years under Cheney, the proposed and adopted budgets followed patterns similar to that of 1990. Early in 1991, he unveiled a plan to reduce military strength by the mid-1990s to 1.6 million, compared with 2.2 million when he entered office. Cheney's 1993 defense budget was reduced from 1992, omitting programs that Congress had directed the Department of Defense to buy weapons that it did not want, and omitting unrequested reserve forces.^[24]

Over his four years as Secretary of Defense, Cheney downsized the military and his budgets showed negative real growth, despite pressures to acquire weapon systems advocated by Congress. The Department of Defense's total obligational authority in current dollars declined from $291 billion to $270 billion. Total military personnel strength decreased by 19 percent, from about 2.2 million in 1989 to about 1.8 million in 1993.^[24] Notwithstanding the overall reduction in military spending, Cheney directed the development of a Pentagon plan to ensure U.S. military dominance in the post-Cold War era.^[40]

Political climate and agenda[link]

Cheney publicly expressed concern that nations such as Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, could acquire nuclear components after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The end of the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact obliged the first Bush Administration to reevaluate the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) purpose and makeup. Cheney believed that NATO should remain the foundation of European security relationships and that it would remain important to the United States in the long term; he urged the alliance to lend more assistance to the new democracies in Eastern Europe.^[24]

Cheney's views on NATO reflected his skepticism about prospects for peaceful social development in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where he saw a high potential for political uncertainty and instability. He felt that the Bush Administration was too optimistic in supporting General Secretary of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev and his successor, Russian President Boris Yeltsin.^[24] Cheney worked to maintain strong ties between the United States and its European allies.^[41]

Cheney persuaded the Saudi Arabian aristocracy to allow bases for US ground troops and war planes in the nation. This was an important element of the success of the Gulf War, as well as a lightning-rod for Islamists who opposed having non-Muslim armies near their holy sites.^[42]

International situations[link]

Using economic sanctions and political pressure, the United States mounted a campaign to drive Panamanian ruler General Manuel Antonio Noriega from power after he fell from favour.^[24] In May 1989, after Guillermo Endara had been duly elected President of Panama, Noriega nullified the election outcome, drawing intensified pressure. In October, Noriega suppressed a military coup, but in December, after soldiers of the Panamanian army killed a US serviceman, the United States invasion of Panama began under Cheney's direction. The stated reason for the invasion was to seize Noriega to face drug charges in the United States, protect US lives and property, and restore Panamanian civil liberties.^[43] Although the mission was controversial,^[44] US forces achieved control of Panama and Endara assumed the Presidency; Noriega was convicted and imprisoned on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in April 1992.^[45]

Secretary of Defense Cheney during a press conference on the Gulf War

In 1991, the Somali Civil War drew the world's attention. In August 1992, the United States began to provide humanitarian assistance, primarily food, through a military airlift. At President Bush's direction, Cheney dispatched the first of 26,000 US troops to Somalia as part of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), designed to provide security and food relief.^[24] Cheney's successors as Secretary of Defense, Les Aspin and William J. Perry, had to contend with both the Bosnian and Somali issues.

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait[link]

On August 1, 1990, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sent invading forces into neighboring Kuwait, a small petroleum-rich state long claimed by Iraq as part of its territory.^[46] An estimated 140,000 Iraqi troops quickly took control of Kuwait City and moved on to the Saudi Arabia/Kuwait border.^[24] The United States had already begun to develop contingency plans for the defense of Saudi Arabia by the US Central Command, headed by General Norman Schwarzkopf, because of its important petroleum reserves.

US and world reaction[link]

Cheney meets with Prince Sultan, Minister of Defence and Aviation in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to handle the invasion of Kuwait

Cheney and Schwarzkopf oversaw planning for what would become a full-scale US military operation. According to General Colin Powell, Cheney "had become a glutton for information, with an appetite we could barely satisfy. He spent hours in the National Military Command Center peppering my staff with questions."^[24]

Shortly after the Iraqi invasion, Cheney made the first of several visits to Saudi Arabia where King Fahd requested US military assistance. The United Nations took action as well, passing a series of resolutions condemning Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; the UN Security Council authorized "all means necessary" to eject Iraq from Kuwait, and demanded that the country withdraw its forces by January 15, 1991.^[46] By then, the United States had a force of about 500,000 stationed in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Other nations, including Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Syria, and Egypt, contributed troops, and other allies, most notably Germany and Japan, agreed to provide financial support for the coalition effort, named Operation Desert Shield.^[24]

On January 12, 1991, Congress authorized Bush to use military force to enforce Iraq's compliance with UN resolutions on Kuwait.^[46]

Military action[link]

The first phase of Operation Desert Storm, which began on January 17, 1991, was an air offensive to secure air superiority and attack Iraq's forces, targeting key Iraqi command and control centers, including Baghdad and Basra. Cheney turned most other Department of Defense matters over to Deputy Secretary Atwood and briefed Congress during the air and ground phases of the war.^[24] He flew with Powell to the region (specifically Riyadh) to review and finalize the ground war plans.^[46]

After an air offensive of more than five weeks, the UN coalition launched the ground war on February 24. Within 100 hours, Iraqi forces had been routed from Kuwait and Schwarzkopf reported that the basic objective—expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait—had been met on February 27.^[47] After consultation with Cheney and other members of his national security team, Bush declared a suspension of hostilities.^[46]

Aftermath[link]

A total of 147 U.S. military personnel died in combat, and another 236 died as a result of accidents or other causes.^[24][47] Iraq agreed to a formal truce on March 3, and a permanent cease-fire on April 6.^[24] There was subsequent debate about whether the UN coalition should have driven as far as Baghdad to oust Saddam Hussein from power. Bush agreed that the decision to end the ground war when they did was correct, but the debate persisted as Hussein remained in power and rebuilt his military forces.^[24] Arguably the most significant debate concerned whether U.S. and coalition forces had left Iraq too soon.^[48][49] In an April 15, 1994 interview with C-SPAN, Cheney explained that occupying and attempting to take over the country would have been a "bad idea" and would have led to a "quagmire."^[50][51]

Cheney regarded the Gulf War as an example of the kind of regional problem the United States was likely to continue to face in the future.^[52]

We're always going to have to be involved [in the Middle East]. Maybe it's part of our national character, you know we like to have these problems nice and neatly wrapped up, put a ribbon around it. You deploy a force, you win the war and the problem goes away and it doesn't work that way in the Middle East it never has and isn't likely to in my lifetime.

Private sector career[link]

Between 1987 and 1989, during his last term in Congress, Cheney was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations foreign policy organization.^[53]

With the new Democratic administration under President Bill Clinton in January 1993, Cheney left the Department of Defense and joined the American Enterprise Institute. He also served a second term as a Council on Foreign Relations director from 1993 to 1995.^[53] From 1995 until 2000, he served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton, a Fortune 500 company and market leader in the energy sector.

Cheney's record as CEO was subject to some dispute among Wall Street analysts; a 1998 merger between Halliburton and Dresser Industries attracted the criticism of some Dresser executives for Halliburton's lack of accounting transparency.^[54] Although Cheney is not named as an individual defendant in the suit, Halliburton shareholders are pursuing a class-action lawsuit alleging that the corporation artificially inflated its stock price during this period; in June of 2011, the United States Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling and allowed the case to continue be litigated.^[55] Cheney was named in a December 2010 corruption complaint filed by the Nigerian government against Halliburton, which the company settled for $250 million.^[56]

During Cheney's tenure, Halliburton changed its accounting practices regarding revenue realization of disputed costs on major construction projects.^[57] Cheney resigned as CEO of Halliburton on July 25, 2000. As vice president, he argued that this step removed any conflict of interest. Cheney's net worth, estimated to be between $30 million and $100 million, is largely derived from his post at Halliburton, as well as the Cheneys' gross income of nearly $8.82 million.^{[58][not in citation given]}

He was also a member of the board of advisors of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) before becoming vice president.^[42]

2000 presidential election[link]

In early 2000, while serving as the CEO of Halliburton, Cheney headed then-Governor of Texas George W. Bush's vice-presidential search committee. On July 25, after reviewing Cheney's findings, Bush surprised some pundits by asking Cheney himself to join the Republican ticket.^[14][59] Halliburton reportedly reached agreement on July 20 to allow Cheney to retire, with a package estimated at $20 million.^[60]

A few months before the election Cheney put his home in Dallas up for sale and changed his drivers' license and voter registration back to Wyoming. This change was necessary to allow Texas' presidential electors to vote for both Bush and Cheney without contravening the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which forbids electors from voting for someone from their own state for both President and Vice President.

Cheney campaigned against Al Gore's running mate, Joseph Lieberman, in the 2000 presidential election. While the election was undecided, the Bush-Cheney team was not eligible for public funding to plan a transition to a new administration. So, Cheney opened a privately funded transition office in Washington. This office worked to identify candidates for all important positions in the cabinet.^[61] According to Craig Unger, Cheney advocated Donald Rumsfeld for the post of Secretary of Defense to counter the influence of Colin Powell at the State Department, and tried unsuccessfully to have Paul Wolfowitz named to replace George Tenet as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.^[62]

Vice Presidency[link]

First term[link]

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Cheney remained physically apart from Bush for security reasons. For a period, Cheney stayed at an undisclosed location, out of public view.^[63] 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 the U.S. Naval Observatory to the White House.^[64]

On the morning of June 29, 2002, Cheney served as Acting President of the United States under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, while Bush was undergoing a colonoscopy. Cheney acted as President from 11:09 UTC that day until Bush resumed the powers of the presidency at 13:24 UTC.^[65][66]

Iraq War[link]

Cheney speaks to US troops at Camp Anaconda, Iraq in 2008

Following 9/11, Cheney was instrumental in providing a primary justification for entering into a war with Iraq. Cheney helped shape Bush's approach to the "War on Terrorism", making numerous public statements alleging Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction,^[67] and made several personal visits to CIA headquarters, where he questioned mid-level agency analysts on their conclusions.^[68] 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."^[69] Furthermore, in 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded that there was no "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda.^[70]

Following the US invasion of Iraq, Cheney remained steadfast in his support of the war, stating that it would be an "enormous success story",^[71] 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]."^[72]

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?"^[73] This remark prompted widespread criticism, including from former Oklahoma Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards, a long-time personal friend of Cheney.^[74]

Second term[link]

President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus (right) meets with Vice President Cheney in Vilnius, May 2006

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.^[75] Cheney has stated that he is in favor of gay marriages but that each individual state should decide whether to permit it.^[76]

Cheney's former chief legal counsel, David Addington,^[77] 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.^[78] Until his indictment and resignation^[79] in 2005, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr. served in both roles.^[80]

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.^[81]

After his term began in 2001, Cheney was occasionally asked if he was interested in the Republican nomination for the 2008 elections. 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.^[82]

Disclosure of documents[link]

Cheney (far right) with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush

Cheney was a prominent member of the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG),^[83] commonly known as the Energy task force, which comprised 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.^[84]

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.^[85] Cheney refused to release the documents, citing his executive privilege to deny congressional information requests.^[86][87] 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.^[88] 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.^{[89][90][91][92]}

CIA leak scandal[link]

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.^[93] Following an indictment, Libby resigned his positions as Cheney's chief of staff and assistant on national security affairs.

On September 8, 2006, 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.^[94]

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 .^[95]

On March 6, 2007, Libby was convicted on four felony counts for obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements to federal investigators.^[96] In his closing arguments, independent prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that there was "a cloud over the vice president",^[97] an apparent reference to Cheney's interview with FBI agents investigating the case, which was made public in 2009.^[98] 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".^[99]

Assassination attempt[link]

Cheney speaks to the press flanked by fellow Republicans Mitch McConnell (left) and Trent Lott, April 2007

On February 27, 2007, at about 10 am, a suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded 20 more outside Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan during a visit by Cheney. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack and said Cheney was its intended target. The Taliban claimed that Osama Bin Laden supervised the operation.^[100] The bomb went off outside the front gate, however, 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."^[101] The purpose of Cheney's visit to the region had been to press Pakistan for a united front against the Taliban.^[102]

Policy formulation[link]

Pope Benedict XVI, Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Lynne Cheney at a farewell ceremony for the Pope at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Cheney has been characterized as the most powerful and influential Vice President in history.^[103][104] 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 Speaker Dennis Hastert's provision of an office near the House floor for Cheney^[105] in addition to his office in the West Wing,^[106] his ceremonial office in the Old Executive Office Building,^[107] and his Senate offices (one in the Dirksen Senate Office Building and another off the floor of the Senate).^[105][108]

Cheney has actively promoted an expansion of the powers of the presidency, saying that the Bush administration’s challenges to the laws which Congress passed after Vietnam and Watergate to contain and oversee the executive branch—the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Presidential Records Act, the Freedom of Information Act and the War Powers Resolution—are, in Cheney's words, "a restoration, if you will, of the power and authority of the president."^[109][110]

Vice President Cheney escorts former first lady Nancy Reagan at the commissioning ceremony of the USS Ronald Reagan, 2003

In June 2007, the Washington Post summarized Cheney’s vice presidency in a Pulitzer Prize-winning^[111] 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 President Dan 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.^[112]

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 constitutes torture.^[113] U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Colin Powell's chief of staff when he was both Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the same time Cheney was Secretary of Defense, and then later when Powell was Secretary of State, stated in an in-depth interview that Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld established an alternative program to interrogate post-9/11 detainees because of their mutual distrust of CIA.^[114]

The Washington Post articles, principally written by Barton 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."^[115] They also highlighted Cheney’s behind-the-scenes influence on the 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 on greenhouse gas emissions, among other issues. The articles characterized his approach to policy formulation as favoring business over the environment.^[116]

Cheney walks with Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, May 2007

In June 2008, Cheney allegedly attempted to block efforts by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to strike a controversial US compromise deal with North Korea over the communist state's nuclear program.^[117]

In July 2008, a former Environmental Protection Agency official stated publicly that Cheney's office had pushed significantly for large-scale deletions from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the health effects of global warming "fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases."^[118] 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 Administrator Stephen Johnson, Cheney's office was directly responsible for nearly half of the original testimony being deleted.^[118]

On February 14, 2010, in an appearance on ABC's This Week, Cheney reiterated his support of waterboarding and enhanced interrogation techniques for captured terrorist suspects, saying, "I was and remain a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program."^[119] At the time, Cheney still enjoyed strong support from voters in the Republican Party.^[120]

Post Vice-Presidency[link]

Political activity[link]

Cheney speaking at CPAC in February 2011.

The Washington Post reported in 2008 that Cheney purchased a home in McLean, Virginia (Washington suburbs), which he was to tear down for a replacement structure. He also maintains homes in Wyoming and on Maryland's Eastern Shore.^[121]

Cheney is the subject of an HBO television mini-series based on Barton Gellman's 2008 book Angler^[122] and the 2006 documentary The Dark Side, produced by the Public Broadcasting Service.^[123]

Cheney maintained a visible public profile after leaving office,^[124] being especially critical of Obama administration policies on national security.^[125][126] In May 2009, Cheney spoke of his support for same-sex marriage, becoming one of the most prominent Republican politicians to do so. Speaking to the National Press Club, Cheney stated, "People ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish. I do believe, historically, the way marriage has been regulated is at a state level. It's always been a state issue, and I think that's the way it ought to be handled today."^[127] In 2012, Cheney reportedly encouraged several Maryland state legislators to vote to legalize same-sex marriage in that state.^[128]

Although, by custom, a former vice president unofficially receives six months of protection from the United States Secret Service, President Obama reportedly extended the protection period for Cheney.^[129]

On July 11, 2009, CIA Director Leon Panetta told the Senate and House intelligence committees that the CIA withheld information about a secret counter-terrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from Cheney. Intelligence and Congressional officials have said the unidentified program did not involve the CIA interrogation program and did not involve domestic intelligence activities. They have said the program was started by the counter-terrorism center at the CIA shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, but never became fully operational, involving planning and some training that took place off and on from 2001 until this year.^[130] The Wall Street Journal reported, citing former intelligence officials familiar with the matter, that the program was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives.^[131]

Criticism of President Obama[link]

Cheney has publicly criticized President Obama since the 2008 presidential election. On December 29, 2009, four days after the attempted bombing of an international passenger flight from Netherlands to United States, Cheney criticized Obama: "[We] are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren't, it makes us less safe. [...] Why doesn't he want to admit we're at war? It doesn't fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn't fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency—social transformation—the restructuring of American society."^[132] In response, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer wrote on the official White House blog the following day, "[I]t is telling that Vice President Cheney and others seem to be more focused on criticizing the Administration than condemning the attackers. Unfortunately too many are engaged in the typical Washington game of pointing fingers and making political hay, instead of working together to find solutions to make our country safer."^[133][134]

During a February 14, 2010 appearance on ABC's This Week, Cheney reiterated his criticism of the Obama administration's policies for handling suspected terrorists, criticizing the "mindset" of treating "terror attacks against the United States as criminal acts as opposed to acts of war".^[119]

In a May 2, 2011, interview with ABC News, Cheney praised the Obama administration for the operation that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden.^[135]

Memoir[link]

Cheney in 2012, promoting his book

In August 2011, Cheney published his memoir, In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir, written with Liz Cheney. The book outlines Cheney's recollections of 9/11, the War on Terrorism, the 2001 War in Afghanistan, the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war, enhanced interrogation techniques and other events.^[136] According to Barton Gellman, the author of Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency, Cheney's book differs from publicly available records on details surrounding the NSA surveillance program.^[137][138]

Public perception[link]

In the beginning of the Bush administration, Cheney's public opinion polls were more favorable than unfavorable. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, both Bush's and Cheney's approval ratings rose, with Cheney reaching 68 percent^[139] and the president with 90 percent.^[140] The polling numbers for both men gradually declined in their second terms, however.^[139][141] Cheney's Gallup poll figures are mostly consistent with those from other polls:^[139][142]

• 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 by Brigham Young University, where he delivered the commencement address.^[143] 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".^[144] BYU permitted a protest to occur so long as it did not "make personal attacks against Cheney, attack (the) BYU administration, the church or the First Presidency".^[145]

Cheney has often been compared to Darth Vader, a characterization originated by his critics but later adopted humorously by Cheney himself as well as members of his family and staff.^[146]

Personal life[link]

Cheney is a member of the United Methodist Church^[147] and was "the first Methodist Vice President to serve under a Methodist president."^[148]

His wife, Lynne Cheney, was Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1996. She is now a public speaker, author, and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The couple have two children, Elizabeth and Mary, and six grandchildren. Elizabeth, his elder daughter, is married to Philip J. Perry, former General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security. Mary Cheney, a former employee of the Colorado Rockies baseball team and Coors Brewing Company, a campaign aide to the Bush re-election campaign, and an open lesbian, currently lives in Great Falls, Virginia, with her longtime partner Heather Poe.^[149]

Health problems[link]

Cheney's long histories of cardiovascular disease and periodic need for urgent health care raised questions of whether he was medically fit to serve in public office.^[150] Having smoked up to three or more packs of cigarettes for nearly 20 years,^[151] Cheney sustained the first of five heart attacks in 1978, at age 37. Subsequent attacks in 1984, 1988, 2000, and 2010 have resulted in moderate contractile dysfunction of his left ventricle.^{[152] [153]} He underwent four-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting in 1988, coronary artery stenting in November 2000, urgent coronary balloon angioplasty in March 2001, and the implantation of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in June, 2001.^[152]

On September 24, 2005, Cheney underwent a six-hour endo-vascular procedure to repair popliteal artery aneurysms bilaterally, a catheter treatment technique used in the artery behind each knee.^[154] The condition was discovered at a regular physical in July, and was not life-threatening.^[155] Cheney was hospitalized for tests after experiencing shortness of breath five months later. In late April 2006, an ultrasound revealed that the clot was smaller.^[154]

On March 5, 2007, Cheney was treated for deep-vein thrombosis in his left leg at George Washington University Hospital after experiencing pain in his left calf. Doctors prescribed blood-thinning medication and allowed him to return to work.^[156] CBS News reported that during the morning of November 26, 2007, Cheney was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and underwent treatment that afternoon.^[154]

On July 12, 2008, Cheney underwent a cardiological exam; doctors reported that his heartbeat was normal for a 67-year-old man with a history of heart problems. As part of his annual checkup, he was administered an electrocardiogram and radiological imaging of the stents placed in the arteries behind his knees in 2005. Doctors said that Cheney had not experienced any recurrence of atrial fibrillation and that his special pacemaker had neither detected nor treated any arrhythmia.^[157] On October 15, 2008, Cheney returned to the hospital briefly to treat a minor irregularity.^[158]

On January 19, 2009, Cheney strained his back "while moving boxes into his new house". As a consequence, he was in a wheelchair for two days, including his attendance at the 2009 United States presidential inauguration.^[159][160]

On February 22, 2010, Cheney was admitted to George Washington University Hospital after experiencing chest pains. A spokesperson later said Cheney had experienced a mild heart attack after doctors had run tests.^[153] On June 25, 2010, Cheney was admitted to George Washington University Hospital after reporting discomfort.^[161]

In early July 2010, Cheney was outfitted with a left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute to compensate for worsening congestive heart failure.^[162] The device pumped blood continuously through his body.^[163][164] He was released from Inova on August 9, 2010,^[165] and had to decide whether to seek a full heart transplant.^[166][167] This pump was centrifugal and as a result he remained alive without a pulse for nearly fifteen months.^[168]

On March 24, 2012, Cheney underwent a seven-hour heart transplant procedure at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, at the age of 71. He had been on a waiting list for more than 20 months before receiving the heart from an anonymous donor.^[169][170] Cheney's principal cardiologist, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, advised his patient that "it would not be unreasonable for an otherwise healthy 71-year-old man to expect to live another 10 years" with a transplant, saying in a family-authorized interview that he considered Cheney to be otherwise healthy.^[171]

Hunting incident[link]

On February 11, 2006, Cheney accidentally^[172] shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney, in the face, neck, and upper torso with birdshot pellets when he turned to shoot a quail while hunting on a southern Texas ranch.^[173]

Whittington suffered a mild heart attack and atrial fibrillation due to a pellet that embedded in the outer layers of his heart.^[174] The Kenedy County Sheriff's office cleared Cheney of any criminal wrongdoing in the matter, and in an interview with Fox News, Cheney accepted full responsibility for the incident.^[175] Whittington was discharged from the hospital on February 17, 2006. Later, Whittington stated, "My family and I are deeply sorry for all that vice president Cheney has had to go through this past week."^[176]

References[link]